Unkindest Cut of All
by Genevieve Kelly
Summary: Walsh never said anything to his boss about Detective Cole's dirty past in order to protect Beaumont from the truth, but his instincts are screaming at him that his decision was a mistake; one that may cost him his life.
1. Chapter 1

Unkindest Cut of All

Chapter One

It was winter in New York City and despite the bitterness of the weather, criminals seemed to be pouring out of the woodwork, making the lives of the cops and detectives working with the NYPD difficult. However, many of them thrived under the pressure and Detectives Walsh and Shraeger were two of these. They have only been partners for a few months now, but they have already developed a strong sense of loyalty to each other and they were the best of the best.

A few weeks into the winter, Casey had broken up with her boyfriend, Davis, after he could no longer take her attitude toward the rich life. She hated how they lived, how they thought about those that were under them, and she especially hated how they couldn't understand how she wanted to be just a normal girl, working as a cop. Her partner admired that about her and was the only detective in their precinct, who didn't tease her or try to get something from her.

As for Jason, when he wasn't busy running after criminals through the streets, he would spend his time alone at his diner, or with his girlfriend, Detective Beaumont. Although, lately, he hasn't seen much of her, as she had other things going on in her life, making it difficult for her to have a love life. Truth be told, Walsh appreciated his time alone, as it gave him the downtime he needed to think about the things that were troubling him, much of it having to do with the decision he had made in regards to Beaumont's partner, Cole. He never spoke to Casey about why he made the decision he had, nor did he ever tell her that his instinct was telling him that he had made the wrong choice. It was a secret for him to keep to himself and he could not afford to tell anyone else, especially Beaumont.

What Walsh didn't realize, was that in the last few weeks, Casey noticed that something was deeply troubling him and it wasn't until one morning when she woke up shortly after five and walked into his diner as she saw that he was already awake, that she finally decided to confront him about it.

"You're up early this morning?" he said from behind the counter as she walked through the door. "I was just getting ready to eat. Can I get you something?"

"I could use French toast and some orange juice, that is, unless your French toast is as bad as your pancakes," Casey answered.

Jason smiled and responded, "Very funny. Actually, they're probably about the same, but you're getting it anyway, so sit down and shut up about it. What brings you here so early anyway? Is everything all right?"

She took a sip of the juice he had sat down in front of her and then replied, "With me? Of course! I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Perhaps it's because you look like you have something on your mind and you'd like to get it off your chest," Walsh answered. "Then there's the fact that it's barely after five o'clock in the morning, when most people are passed out by now."

"Well, you're awake right now too and from how terrible you look, I'd say that you haven't been asleep all night, or for the last few nights." Casey said. "Spill it. What's going on with you?"

Jason turned his back on her as he continued cooking her breakfast and responded, "Nothing's wrong. I'm fine."

Casey smacked him across the back of his head and he quickly turned back around to stare at her in surprise as she roughly replied, "Try again. Is everything okay between you and Beaumont; not that it's any of my business."

"I told you…" he began to say until he cut himself off as he saw that she was getting ready to slap him again. "What do you want me to say? That I am having trouble sleeping?"

"I want you to tell me what's wrong," Casey answered. "Maybe I can help."

Walsh nodded as he softly said, "I appreciate that you care, but I can't talk about it; not to you, not to Beaumont, and not to anyone else. It's complicated."

It was then that Casey realized what he was hiding and she responded, "This is about Detective Cole, isn't it? You're worried about your decision not to tell our Sergeant and about letting him get away with what he's done."

"As I told you, I can't talk about it, so drop it," Jason replied angrily until he realized that he shouldn't be yelling at her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to talk to you like that, it's just that, I can't pull you in; I won't."

"You know that you made this decision because you want to protect Allison from learning of her partner's bad past and because you believe that Cole is a good man, who had been caught in a tough place," Casey spoke in a comforting manner. "You want to do the right thing here and unfortunately, the answer isn't so black and white."

Jason looked at her again and asked, "If you were in my position, what would you do?"

She gently put her hand down over his as it lay on the counter and answered, "Unfortunately, I can't answer that because it's not my place, but I can tell you that I support you in your decision and will continue to support you if you change your mind."

"Thanks," he said as he moved to finish making her breakfast and then sat it down in front of her. "So, what is it that's causing you to come to my place so early in the morning for?"

"Oh, Davis called me last night to tell me that he was a fool and that he wants to get back together with me," she responded.

Jason took a bite of bacon he had made as he asked, "And what did you tell him?"

Casey replied, "I told him I'd think about it. I don't like that he broke up with me because he doesn't understand how I feel, but at the same time, I've known him for years and we dated for a long time. Besides, it's not like I'm going to get another boyfriend anytime soon, being a cop, who's filthy rich. People just don't understand me. I'm a very complicated person."

"I understand you just fine," Jason said softly with his back to her once again.

Casey was surprised by his admission and smiled at his kindness, but she didn't say anything in return as she continued to eat. Once they finished, they walked out of his diner and headed off to the police station for work in his car, as they talked about random things such as the latest books they read, or about something they had seen on television. It was back to business, as usual.


	2. Chapter 2

Unkindest Cut of All

Chapter Two

Most of the morning, both Walsh and Shraeger remained at their desks trying to catch up on all of their paperwork, which had been piling up since every other day they've been busy chasing down gangsters and thieves, busting up prostitution rings, and arresting rapists and murderers. That was their life and they enjoyed it, except when their boss forced them to write up the reports. Not a single cop liked that part and unfortunately for them, crime appeared to be taking a day off.

As usual, Eddie Alvarez, the detective, who constantly referred to himself in third person, walked around the precinct annoying his coworkers with mundane questions, thoughts, and ideas that were all about him and his own, stuck-up image. Ever since Walsh had tried to befriend him, when no one else ever did, Alvarez worked harder to not come off so conceited, but it didn't show much. As the saying goes, a leopard can't change its spots.

Detectives Banks and Delahoy sat at their desks, doing more goofing off and searching the internet for random things such as in Delahoy's case, for facts about brain tumors and the surgeries performed in regards to them. The man had become obsessed with death and he had yet to tell his partner what was really going on with him, which constantly freaked his partner out whenever he would do something reckless and just plain stupid.

As for partners Beaumont and Cole, the two of them actually concentrated on their paperwork, as did Walsh and Shraeger, but the two of them also spent time talking amongst each other. Cole spoke of some of his beliefs, which Beaumont actually found interesting, and she had asked him for some financial advice, as Cole was an avid penny saver, unless he was purchasing a gift for his fiancé, soon to be wife, or something for their coming wedding. The two of them had become close, since Cole had become assigned to their precinct.

Cole was more than happy to talk with his partner and was listening to her for the most part, but he couldn't keep from taking a glance every now and again toward Walsh's desk, as he could sense the head detective keeping an eye on him. It was unnerving, but Cole understood why he was doing it. Jason had warned him he would be doing so and would be there if he ever crossed the line again, not that he ever planned to.

Around one o'clock, Cole received a phone call and shortly after answering it, he stood and walked away from his desk in order to take it in private. As he did so, Jason looked up and stared at him until he disappeared from the room, not paying attention to anything else, even when Casey became aware of what he was doing and worked to get her partner's attention when their boss entered the room as he asked for them to come to his office.

She snapped her fingers in front of his face as he quickly snapped out of his trance and asked, "What… what did you ask? I'm sorry."

As she got up to walk, Casey answered, "I didn't ask you anything. You were staring at nothing. The sergeant wants us in his office."

"I wasn't staring at nothing," Jason responded as he stood and followed her toward their boss' office. "I was looking toward…"

"You were watching him again," she quickly interrupted him. "That was until he left the room and then you were staring at nothing."

Walsh glared at her and replied, "You know, you really need to stop being so observant all the time, at least when it comes to me. It's really creepy."

The sergeant within the precinct heard the last part of their conversation and asked, "What's really creepy and who are you watching, Detective Walsh? Is there something I should know about?"

"No, Sir," Jason quickly answered as his partner kept her eyes on him. "It's just been a slow morning and I'm getting restless. That's all, I promise. What's going on?"

"Well, it appears that we've got two dead down on Third and Bronson," Sergeant Brown responded sourly. "It looks like you two caught a break, just like you wanted. Exactly how far along did you get into your reports?"

Casey ran back to hers and her partner's desks, picked up all of the files, then ran back into the sergeant's office and replied, "We just finished them, Sir; just as you asked."

Sergeant Brown looked up between her and Walsh in surprise as he asked, "You finished all of them?"

"Yes, Sir," Jason added. "You know how much Casey can get done when she puts her mind to it and I've come back in to work on mine a bit after hours, since it's been so busy. We weren't expecting this morning to be so slow. Those dead bodies; Third and Bronson did you say?"

"That's right," the sergeant answered as Casey dropped the files onto their boss' desk. "You'd better get going. I'll call and let the officers already on the scene know that you're on your way and will be in charge from now on. Good job by the way."

As they left his office, Casey called back, "Thank you, Sir!"

After picking up their guns, which they always kept in their top desk drawers while they remained inside the precinct, as well as their jackets from the backs of their chairs, Walsh turned toward Beaumont and gave her a quick wink, who smiled at him as he did so, then quickly followed Casey out, as the rest of the detectives only stared after them in envy.

Delahoy spoke up as he complained, "Why is it they get to leave and we don't?"

"Because they caught a case and they also finished up all their paperwork," Sergeant Brown responded. "I'm guessing that I can't say the same for any of you."

"Actually, Cole and I are almost done with ours," Beaumont said as her partner walked back in and took his seat.

Alvarez spoke up as well saying, "Eddie Alvarez finished his reports before both Walsh and Shraeger did."

Banks replied quickly, "Kiss-Asses!"

"Very funny, you two," the sergeant answered as Banks and Delahoy slapped their hands together in compliment of his comment. "Perhaps if you guys concentrated a little harder yourselves, you'd be able to have your reports almost done as well, instead of having to finish them after hours tonight. The longer you two goof off, the later you're staying until they are finished. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Sir," both detectives responded glumly as Sergeant Brown turned away and walked back into his office.

As he left, Beaumont looked across at her partner, who appeared to be upset about something and asked, "Is everything all right, Cole?"

Cole suddenly looked back at her and replied, "Yeah, I'm fine. I just received a call from an old friend of mine, who's coming into town later tonight and well, let's just say that I'm not exactly looking forward to seeing him."

"Is he one of those guys, who likes to party a little too hard?" she asked as she chuckled a bit. "I can imagine it might be hard to explain to someone like that about your new way of life."

"You're right," Cole answered softly. "I'd rather spend time with my mother, helping her pick out new curtains for her living room."

They both continued talking as they got back to work on finishing their reports for the sergeant. Detective Beaumont had no clue that Cole was lying to her about the phone call he had just received. It was actually his brother, but like Frank Lutz, who had nearly killed his partner the day he tried to kill Walsh, he wasn't good at all and being his brother, Cole couldn't ignore him, as family above all else had been ingrained into him, more than his new found religion had been. However, the biggest problem was that as Walsh has been watching him so closely lately, it meant that trouble was coming and Cole doubted that the detective would be as lenient for a second time.


	3. Chapter 3

Unkindest Cut of All

Chapter Three

Once Walsh and Shraeger arrived at the crime scene, there were a number of onlookers with their camera phones outs, trying to see around the cops that held their positions until the detectives in charge got there, as well as several people involved with the press, trying to get a juicy story. Walsh walked right up to the cops and ordered them to quickly clear the area, without giving the reporters, whom he hated to play nice with, any kind of statements in regards to the bodies. Those that tried to refuse to leave, he threatened to arrest, though he knew that none of the charges would actually stick.

"What have we got?" Walsh asked an officer as he and his partner walked up to the bodies, once he had finished handling everything else.

"What we got, is two dead guys," an officer responded sarcastically, as he seemed to be upset by how Walsh had pushed everyone away.

Walsh looked up at the man as he knelt down after picking up the sheet that covered the victims and asked, "Do we have a problem here? I'm sorry that I made it impossible for you to get your face in the news, but I think trying to identify these guys and finding their killer is a bit more important. Don't you?"

The officer scoffed, then walked away as his own partner walked over to them and replied, "I'm sorry about my partner. He's a bit full of himself if you know what I mean. He likes talking to the press and the reporters."

"We've got one of those in our department as well," Casey answered. "Do you know who either of these guys are?"

"Unfortunately, both of their wallets are missing," the man responded. "And their heads have been bashed in too much for us to tell what they looked like."

Walsh continued kneeling over the bodies as he replied, "I'd say, whoever these guys ticked off, they ticked them off good. Not only are their heads messed up, the tips of their fingers have been burned off. The bad guys don't want us to identify them at risk of anything leading back to them."

Casey nodded as she knelt down beside Walsh and said, "Maybe we'll get lucky and someone will have reported them missing."

"Actually, I may be able to do better than that," Walsh answered as he leaned in closer to one of the bodies' heads. "It looks like this guy managed to take a bite out of one of his attackers. There's blood in his mouth. Hopefully, whosever DNA this is, will be in the system."

"Can you tell if they were killed here, or if their bodies have been moved from somewhere else?" Casey asked the officer still standing behind them as she stood up from her previous position.

The officer nodded as he responded, "There appears to be blood smears on the street around their bodies, as well as dirt and grime along the backs of their coats, making it appear that they had been dragged, and then there's the fact that their other wounds, aside from their heads, would have caused them to lose a lot of their blood all over the ground. There is no way that they died here."

Walsh replied, "Can you make sure that Dr. Crumb runs the blood tests on the blood found inside this guy's mouth right away? Thank you, Officer."

"Not a problem, Detective," the man answered. "I hope you catch these guys, whoever they are."

"So, what is up with you and your attitude toward the reporters a few minutes ago?" Casey asked as she and Jason walked away from the scene, while the officers began to load up the bodies into the coroner's van. "Do you have some kind of history with them making your life miserable?"

Walsh smiled as he responded, "Reporters and the press are a bunch of vultures. They don't care who they have to trample over, or who they have to hurt, just to get a story. When my girlfriend was murdered, they were all over me in hopes of getting the scoop about what really happened and about how I was feeling. You know, because I was a ball player? I've hated them ever since."

Casey nodded in understanding as she replied, "I see. I'm so sorry. I don't blame you for hating them. I'd probably hate them too, if I were you. They're not all bad though, you know?"

"Well, until you introduce me to one, who isn't a vulture, I'll beg to differ," he answered.

"You're on!" she said with a smile as she suddenly took off running back to their car, as he kept on walking, while watching her go. "Come on slow poke! We've got work to do!"

Later that night…

Detective Cole was inside his apartment making himself something to eat for dinner after a long, boring day at the precinct, but his mind wasn't really into what he was doing, as he was worried about his brother arriving soon. His brother was older than him by three years, but they were pretty close to one another, that is, until the man ended up in prison years ago for robbing a convenience store, as well as for taking the customers and the clerks hostages. Once he got caught, Cole hadn't spoken to him since, nor did the older man know that he was now a cop. No doubt it was going to create problems for him, mainly with his job, but also with his new outlook on life, as well as with his fiancé.

Just as the microwave dinged, letting him know that his dinner was ready, a knock came to the door, and Cole knew that his brother had arrived. As soon as he opened it, Cole's brother came right in and enveloped him into a hug, until he suddenly pulled back as he noticed the badge Cole was wearing on his belt. The young detective had forgotten to take it off when he came home.  
"Tommy, I can explain," Cole spoke up as he saw the disapproving look on his brother's face.

Tommy Cole quickly responded, "I guess that explains why you haven't been to see me once I got arrested. I get it, but why would you become a cop, especially with the crap we've been through? Besides, I heard it from a friend that Frankie got himself killed after trying to kill some cop; a guy by the name of Walsh. You know him?"

Cole nodded as he replied, "Yeah, I know Detective Walsh. I work with him. He's a good man."

His brother looked at Cole angrily as he asked, "Frankie was like a brother to us and you think that his killer, is a good man?"

"Look, Jason knows about my past and he didn't say anything to our boss," Cole answered without correcting him about himself being the one to kill Frank and not Walsh. "I'm begging you to let this go and not to cause any more trouble for me. I love being a cop and I've also found God. I'm not the man I used to be."

"Boy, I'll say," Tommy responded. "Listen to me, Henry. I get what you're saying, but something tells me this, Detective Walsh, didn't let you go out of the goodness of his heart. He's after something, or he's keeping a close eye on you to make sure you don't screw up again. Either way, he's dangerous and not just for you, but for me too."

Cole quickly replied, "Please don't do anything stupid. Frank's attempt to kill him nearly got my partner killed when he accidentally shot her instead. It was because Frank killed Walsh's previous partner that put him onto us in the first place. He's good and the smartest cop I know. If you attempt anything, he will find out and bring us both down for good. Do you understand me?"

Tommy answered, "No one is invincible, Henry."


	4. Chapter 4

Unkindest Cut of All

Chapter Four

Walsh and Shraeger worked the rest of the day working on trying to identify the two bodies at their crime scene, but unfortunately, the lab techs was far behind in their own work and so they told the detectives it would be at least two days before the results of the blood Walsh had discovered inside one of the man's mouths would be back. Shraeger tried to fight with the techs to get their tests moved to the top of their to- do list, but Walsh quickly pulled her away and out of the lab. He warned his partner not to waste her time in arguing, as he knew from years of experience that there was nothing that would change their minds.

After work, Walsh dropped his partner off at her apartment and then drove himself back to his diner. It was around nine- thirty that night, when some guy and a woman, who Walsh assumed was his girlfriend, walked inside from off the street and took a seat at the counter. The man was clean shaven, but his face looked worn and there was a long scar that ran along the side of his cheek. Though Walsh could tell that his girl wasn't a hooker, she had the appearance of one, as her clothes were tight and revealing. The fact that she wore little make-up was what gave away the fact she wasn't a prostitute, like so many other women that lined the streets, including outside of Walsh's diner.

Walsh was the first to speak as he walked over to stand in front of them and said, "You guys sure picked a bitter night to come out. What can I get for you; perhaps some coffee and a couple of bowls of my mother's famous jambalaya?"

The man spoke up as he asked, "Jambalaya? What is that; some kind of soup?"

"It's something like that," Jason replied. "I promise you, you'll love it. My mother was raised in New Orleans, where jambalaya is a favorite among the locals. I've never been, but I hear it's a great place to visit. Maybe one day. So, what do you say?"

"It sounds wonderful," the woman answered. "Of course we'll have some."

The man leaned up a little closer to Walsh as he spoke a little more quietly saying, "Coffee sounds fine for my lady here, but you wouldn't happen to have something a little stronger back there for me, would you?"

Walsh felt a strange vibe coming from the man as he looked back at him, but for now ignored it as he responded, "I've got a beer I can get you, but if you're going to want something stronger than that, you'll have to head to one of the bars."

"That's all right," the man replied as Walsh set two bowls of the soup down in front of them, as well as a cup of coffee for the girlfriend. "A beer sounds just fine. So, what's your name? You look a bit familiar to me. Have we met before?"

"Trust me, I'm great with faces and I don't know yours," Jason answered as his gut was beginning to warn him something wasn't right here, but the guy didn't appear to be a threat to him, at least not tonight. "What's your name?"

The man responded as Jason handed him a beer, "You can call me Tommy and this is my girlfriend, Lisa. We've been together for, oh… how long would you say we've been together, Darling?"

The woman looked over at him as she replied, "You mean aside from the time you spent in p…?"

"Yeah, yeah, aside from that," Tommy quickly said as he interrupted her to keep her from mentioning in front of a cop that he was an ex con. "I think it's been about fifteen years. We were high school sweethearts, if you can believe that. Not many can say they've been together for that long. Do you have yourself a girl?"

"That's certainly a long time," Jason answered, without letting on that he had caught the woman's slip. "No, I don't have a girlfriend. Not many women are interested in an owner of a broken down dump like this place."

Prison time explained the large tattoo that was mostly hidden on the man's neck by his shirt's collar, which he pulled up because of the cold. Walsh noticed it as the guy took off his jacket when he came in and sat down. Something seemed familiar about this man, but Jason couldn't put his finger on it. Instead, he just kept playing it cool as long as the man and his girlfriend remained inside his diner.

"This jambalaya was great stuff, just as you said it would be," Tommy spoke up saying as he and his girlfriend both finished eating in a hurry. "I'll have to keep it in the back of mind for the next time I come out for dinner. I hate to rush off, but I'm afraid we've got to run. We've got a party to go to and we're already running late. Thank you for the fine meal, as well as the beer. Perhaps we'll see you around? Wait a minute, I have seen you before! I knew that I recognized you. You're that major league baseball player, whose girlfriend was mysteriously killed. Am I right?"

Jason's heart skipped a beat as the guy dredged up the memories of his painful past, but didn't let it show on his face as he responded, "I think you've got me confused with someone else. Do you seriously think if I could play baseball good enough for the major leagues that I'd be working here? Sorry. Believe me, I wish I could play. I'd certainly be making a lot more money."

The man looked at him skeptically as he quickly placed a twenty on the counter and then said, "Yeah, you're right. Sorry about that. We'll see you later."

"See you around," Walsh replied as he watched them leave until he suddenly heard a noise coming from the doorway that led to the back where he slept and turned to see Beaumont standing there, still wearing her jacket over her work clothes, her gun on her hip, and her badge attached to the front, left side her belt.

"You had a few late night customers tonight?" she spoke up as she moved toward Jason, who looked at he in surprise. "I came in through the back. What's wrong? Are you all right?"

Walsh snapped out of it and pushed his worries aside as he moved to wrap his arms around her, then answered, "I'm fine. I just didn't expect to see you here tonight. I thought you were going out to have drinks with Cole after you guys finished with work."

Allison Beaumont responded, "I was, until he received a call earlier. Apparently, an old friend was coming into town tonight and Cole realized he needed to be with him, or her. I'm not really sure on the detail. He didn't go into it much, except that he didn't seem thrilled to see, whoever it is."

"That's too bad," he replied as she leaned in to kiss him and then pulled him into a hug.

While still in the embrace, she laid her head on his shoulder, while he starred off in the distance. His mind wasn't on Beaumont it should have been and it was no longer on the stranger and his girlfriend, who had just walked out of his diner. His mind suddenly shifted over to Cole, as he couldn't help, but dread that it was possible whoever this visitor of his was, was going to cause trouble. Jason didn't worry about himself, but if Cole did get into more trouble and he would have to arrest him, he worried about the woman now in his arms, as he knew how much she cared about her partner. They were close friends and to find out that he was involved in her getting shot months ago, it would devastate her. He knew how it felt to find out that the man he trusted to have his back out on the job was dirty. It killed him to learn that his previous partner was crooked. Jason didn't want to be the one to break the news to his girlfriend that Cole was too.

"Let's go to bed," he whispered into her ear. "I'm beat."

Walsh pulled back from the embrace and moved to the door in order to lock up. As he did so, Allison walked up behind him and began to pull off his shirt. As he finished, he turned back to her and pulled off her jacket, as well as her shirt, as they began to kiss. However, as they made their way over to his bed, he suddenly stopped what she expected to turn into more, laid down, and turned over onto his side, away from her, without a word. She looked down at him in confusion, but didn't say anything else as she quickly finished getting undressed, laid down on the bed beside him, and moved in closer in order to wrap her arm around him in comfort. It was obvious to her that something was wrong with him after all, but she kept quiet, not wanting to upset him just then. She decided she'd wait until morning, as she cuddled up against him and together, they both fell asleep.

Meanwhile…

As the two of them left the bar and walked down the street a little ways, Tommy suddenly pulled her down into an alley, then turned to face the girl, and slapped her hard across the face, as he angrily yelled, "How could you be so stupid? I told you before we went in there that we were staking out a cop and according to my brother, a very smart cop. I can't have him looking me up in the database to find out who I really am. If he does that, not only am I in trouble, but so is Henry."

Tears welled up in her eyes as she angrily glared at him and answered, "I'm sorry, all right! Why didn't you just kill him when you had the chance? You're going to anyway, aren't you?"

"I want to know, who I'm dealing with first," Tommy responded. "I need to figure out if he told anyone about Henry."

"Well, your brother's not in jail, so that should answer your question," she said.

Tommy turned away from her as he replied, "Not necessarily. Henry said that Detective Walsh wasn't going to say anything to their boss, but that doesn't mean he hasn't said anything to someone else like a girlfriend or his partner. Besides, I can't go in guns blazing like Frankie did. It got him killed. I need to be smarter. I'll see you around, Sweetheart."

Lisa stared at Tommy as he walked away from her and shouted, "Are you dumping me?"

"I can't risk you blowing this for me!" he called back as he continued walking away from her. "Perhaps I'll see you after all this is over, but until then… good bye!"


	5. Chapter 5

Unkindest Cut of All

Chapter Five

When Beaumont awoke the next morning, she rolled over onto her back to find that Walsh was no longer lying beside her, as he was when they had gone to bed the night before. She cursed, as she was hoping to get the chance to confront him about his distance, then looked at the watch on her wrist, which Jason had loaned to her after she sold her own for money to help her with her bills, and she noticed that she was going to be late for work if she didn't hurry.

By the time Allison arrived at work, she noticed that Walsh wasn't there, but that his partner was. She started to walk over toward Casey, but before she could get to her, Cole walked over and pulled her away. She could see from the look on his face that something was bothering him too. She figured that it must have something to do with his friend coming into town last night. However, when he spoke up, she found she was wrong.

"I'm sorry, Allison," Cole said softly when he finally faced her. "I didn't mean to pull you away from whatever you were going to speak with Shraeger about. I was just… I was… I just wanted to see if everything was all right between you and Walsh this morning?"

"You wanted to know about us?" she asked as she looked at her partner in surprise. "What do you mean? Why would you care about what's happening with us? I didn't really think you cared much… about our relationship."

Cole looked away and then back over at her again as he responded, "I don't really. I mean, I care that you're happy. I just noticed that Jason isn't here yet this morning and well, it's not common for him to be late for work. Then, when I saw you heading over to go and speak with his partner, I figured something might have happened between you too. You seem a bit upset."

Beaumont replied, "I could say the same about you. Are you doing all right?"

"Yeah, of course," Cole answered. "Listen, did uh… has Jason said anything to you about me?"

"What do you mean, has he said anything about you to me?" she asked him. "No, he hasn't. Should he have? Do you have something you need to tell me?"

Cole quickly shook his head and lied, "No, of course not, but for some reason, I get the sense that he doesn't trust me much anymore. I was only wondering if he may have mentioned anything to you about it."

Allison responded, "No, he hasn't. I think you're being a little paranoid. You're one of the best cops I know. Why would he, or anyone else, distrust you? I'm going to go and speak with Casey. Maybe she'll know why Walsh is being so distant from us. I'll see you in a few minutes."

Cole watched his partner walk away to go and find Walsh's partner, Shraeger, which was actually a good thing. Maybe she'll learn if Jason had mentioned something about him to her. However, if he had, then he was in more trouble than he realized. Cole knew that his brother had gone to Walsh's diner last night in order to get a read on the man and he knew that he thought it would be better if Walsh was eliminated, but if Casey knew something too, then that would be another cop Tommy would most likely paint a target on and the more determined the rest of the detectives and officers in this precinct would be to track down their killers, not that they wouldn't be for a detective as good as Jason. Cole didn't want to see anything happen to either Jason or Casey, but he was willing to give them up, if that meant protecting his older brother, who had always protected him when they were younger. Cole just hoped that he would be able to talk him out of doing anything so stupid.

"Good morning, Casey," Allison said as she finally made it over to where Jason's partner stood. "Where is that partner of yours this morning?"

"I'm not sure," Casey replied. "I take it you two weren't together last night?"

Beaumont answered, "We were, but he was gone when I woke up. I know that he wakes up early to open the diner for breakfast, but he was gone and he was acting strangely last night; distant. Do you know anything about that? Is there any reason why he would be upset?"

Casey quickly looked in Cole's direction without his partner noticing, then turned back to Allison as she responded, "No, I haven't noticed anything off about him lately. I mean, he's always been quiet and aloof. You ought to know that?"

"Yes, but this was strange, even for him," Beaumont replied. "Besides, he should be here at work by now. You don't think the sergeant asked him to look into something, do you?"

"It's certainly possible," Casey answered. "I'm sure he's just fine."

Eddie was about to walk by them until he stopped and asked, "You think who's just fine? Do you mean Detective Walsh? Sergeant Brown's pretty upset that he hasn't shown up yet. Eddie Alvarez thinks that the man's about to blow a gasket."

Casey through her hands up in the air and cried out, "He's just a few minutes late, for crying out loud! Can't a man, who's never late, just be allowed to be late once?"

"Not when he's Walsh," Beaumont said as Alvarez continued to walk by them. "It looks like you're about to be called into Brown's office. Oh… and I meant to ask you something before you go. Has Jason said anything to you about Cole? My partner's seemed to have gotten it in his head that Jason distrusts him all of a sudden. I told him he's being silly, but he wanted to know if he was right."

"Not that I know of," Casey lied as her face became cold; almost angry. "I'm sure you're right. I better go."

Allison thought that that was a strange reaction coming from Casey, but shrugged it off, while Casey walked into their boss' office and stood in front of the man as he growled, "And where is your partner this morning, Shraeger?"

Detective Shraeger responded, "That seems to be the million dollar question this morning, Sir. I tried calling him and sending him a text, but he hasn't answered so far. I'm sure there's a logical explanation for him being late."

"Well, he better get in here quick," Sergeant Brown replied. "The coroner has identified your two dead bodies. She was here late last night. I need you and your partner to go and talk to their families and associates, but I need you to be discreet. It appears that these men worked with the campaign committee for our newest candidate for our city's mayor in the upcoming election."

"I will keep trying, Sir," Casey answered as she left the office and continued to try to get a hold of him. "Dang it, Walsh! Where the hell are you? Of all the days for you to be late."


	6. Chapter 6

Unkindest Cut of All

Chapter Six

When Walsh slowly awoke from unconsciousness, the first thing that he became aware of was the sharp pain he felt in his abdomen, as well as all over his legs and chest, as his ribs were no doubt badly bruised, some probably even broken. It took him awhile before he could get up the strength to move and sit up against the wall in whatever kind of room he was in. He could hardly see, as it was practically pitch black, but when he finally managed, he discovered that the wall and the floor were both metal. He realized he was stuck inside a shipping container like what was found at a shipyard, thanks to the little bit of sunlight coming through an air vent toward the top of the box, and he had no idea how long he had been there.

Jason reached down with one hand, as he found that his right wrist was chained up to the wall, and gently placed it on the area of his abdomen where he felt the most amount of pain and as he did, he felt a wet, sticky substance. When he removed his hand and held it up in front of his face, he saw that the substance was indeed blood like he expected, as he could barely make out the red that covered it. He was wounded pretty badly, but as he looked down at the wound, he could see that it had been treated somewhat, as there was a bandage that had been wrapped around it, obviously sometime ago because his blood was now seeping through it. Walsh struggled to remember how this had happened and tried to think back to his last memory before waking up in his current predicament.

Earlier that morning…

Just as he had for the last few weeks since he had told Detective Cole he would keep his secret, Jason struggled to sleep through the night and as four-thirty came around, he became fed up with lying in bed wide awake. So, he slowly and quietly moved out from underneath Allison's arm, which she had wrapped around his bare chest before she fell asleep the night before, and got up from his bed. He quickly got dressed and walked out into the diner to do some work before he opened up for breakfast. On top of a little cleaning, he had bills he needed to pay.

Once he finished and was about to open, he looked out through the glass door and noticed the woman that had come into the diner last night along with the man, whom he had gotten a bad vibe from. He had no doubt in his mind that she had been out there standing, watching him for awhile, but he had no clue why, making him feel uneasy.

Instead of unlocking his door to whoever would come in for breakfast, he stepped outside, closed the door behind him, and slowly began to walk over toward the woman, who only smiled as he came toward her as she continued to smoke. She dropped the cigarette to the ground once he arrived and put it out with her foot. As he got close, he noticed she had a large bruise around her left eye, which wasn't there the night before.

She smiled as she said, "Good morning there, Sugar."

He suspiciously replied, "You're up early this morning, Miss…."

"Lisa, Lisa Jensen," she answered as she moved in front of him and began to move her fingers along his chest. "There's no need for you to look at me like you're wondering why I'm here. I felt the chemistry we had between us when I was here last night."

"There was no chemistry, Miss. Jensen," Walsh responded as he roughly pushed her hand away from him and took a step back. "At least none that I felt. Besides, you've got yourself a boyfriend and I'm pretty sure that he wouldn't appreciate you being here with me. What are you really doing here so early this morning?"

Lisa wasn't surprised by his reaction to her as she continued to smile at him and said, "I was hoping to get a chance to speak with you before you got busy with work. Would you mind coming with me for a little walk?"

Jason began to walk alongside her as she moved away from him and replied, "I suppose a few minutes wouldn't hurt. Is everything all right between you and…"

"Tommy?" she finished for him. "No, not really. He dumped me after we left your diner last night. I'm not really sure why, but he was angry with me about something."

"Did he give you that bruise over your eye?" he asked gently as she turned to walk down an alley a few blocks down.

She turned away from him as she answered, "This is nothing. I tried…"

As he continued to follow after her, Jason interrupted, "I can help you if you're in trouble, Lisa. I'm not just the owner of the diner. I'm a detective with the NYPD."

"Actually, I'm afraid I've got a little confession of my own, Detective Walsh," she responded as she turned back to face him with a cold smile across her face. "I already know who you are."

Jason stopped dead in his tracks as he noticed a group of street thugs walk out from around the corner at the back end of the alley toward him and the woman, whom he realized was only pretending to be a damsel in distress in order to lure him out into the open. He was in trouble. He could fight well enough against a few of them, but not if they all chose to attack him at once, which he could see from their faces that that was what they had planned, and certainly not if they used the weapons he saw many of them carrying.

"What is it you want from me?" Walsh asked as he prepared himself for their attack.

She replied, "As I told you, Detective, my boyfriend did break up with me, but I love him and he wants to speak with you about some things. He just wasn't sure how to go about it. When I bring you to him, he'll want me back. Oh, and by the way, Tommy wasn't the one, who gave me this black eye. I hired my kid brother to do this, to help me to sell my story, just as I hired his gang to help me take care of you. I suggest you don't put up much of a fight, or you might get hurt."

Just as the thugs began to advance on him, Walsh quickly answered, "You're a fool, Miss. Jensen."

Three of the gang members attacked him at once without using their blades or clubs they had on them, but Walsh was able to knock them to the ground within a few minutes. It was then that the rest of the thugs began to use their weapons in hopes of taking him down. Jason managed to beat off a few more as they struck him several times on his chest and across his back and legs with clubs, but he didn't fall to the ground until he was suddenly stabbed in the left side of his abdomen with a knife. Jason cried out in pain as he collapsed to his knees, but remained silent as he watched and listened to the men that circled around him.

Lisa warned them not to kill him, as she needed him alive, so her brother, the leader of the pack, walked up behind Walsh and struck him hard over the head with the butt of his gun in order to knock the detective unconscious so that he wouldn't be able to give them any more trouble while they brought him to where Lisa had set up for them to meet up with Tommy.

Walsh remembered the fight vividly, as he moved his free hand along his chest and up and down his legs in order to figure out exactly what was bruised, as well as what was broken. Thankfully, none of the injuries were too bad, aside from the wound in his stomach, but unless he got some more help other than the loosely wrapped bandage already around it, he was going to become ill before too long.

As the door opened and he knew that it would no doubt be both Tommy and Lisa coming in, Walsh didn't worry about them, nor did he worry so much about getting sick. It was inevitable, so his mind wandered to his partner, trusting that she would find him no matter how long it took for her to do so.


	7. Chapter 7

Unkindest Cut of All

Chapter Seven

Casey had become impatient and irritated just sitting and waiting at her desk inside the station for Walsh to show up for work. However, deep down she knew that something was wrong, as it wasn't like him to be late, at least without calling first, let alone just not show up at all.

Both Beaumont and Cole sensed that something was wrong as well, but Cole wasn't so much concerned with Jason's welfare, as he was with his own well-being and his brother's. It wasn't that he didn't care about Walsh. He really did, as the man had stuck up for him and protected him so that he could continue to be Beaumont's partner and work toward being the better man.

It was shortly after ten, when their boss once again walked out of his office and ordered Detective Shraeger to get out there and find out where her missing partner was, before he gave away their case to any of the others. Casey was about to leave, until she was stopped and pulled aside by Beaumont.

Beaumont spoke up softly as she asked, "You know that something's wrong, don't you? I mean, you and I both know that this isn't like Jason to not be here. There is something going on between you two. I want to know…"

Casey was shocked by the other woman's accusation, as she quickly interrupted, "What are you talking about? There's nothing going on between me and Walsh. He's my partner and only my partner."

"No, no, no, I mean…. I know that the two of you aren't involved," Allison replied. "I'm sorry. What I meant was that I know that the two of you are hiding some kind of secret that has to do with his strange mood he's been in for weeks now. And I'm also sensing that whatever it is, it has something to do with why he isn't here right now. Do you think he's in trouble?"

"Yes, I think he's in trouble," Casey answered. "But I don't know why."

Beaumont responded, "Please tell me what's bothering him. If it does have something to do with his disappearance, I want to know. I care about him."

Casey sighed, looked away for a brief moment, then turned back to her, and said, "I know that you do. And believe me, I wish that I could tell you, but I can't. He asked me not to tell anyone. It is only up to him if and when he chooses to talk about it with you. He doesn't want to hurt you because… because he cares for you too, a lot."

"But if he's hurt because of this secret, then…" Beaumont tried to say until she was cut off once again.

"Listen to me, Allison," Casey replied. "It's possible you may find out everything after today, but it will not be from me. I will not betray Jason's trust; not ever."

As soon as she finished, Casey walked away, leaving Beaumont standing there bewildered by Detective Shraeger's stamina. The two of them hadn't been partners for too long, but they already acted as if they had been for years. However, she felt the same way about her own partnership with Cole. They had become pretty close as well. She realized then that she understood how Casey couldn't betray hers and Walsh's trust, even if whatever the big secret is is the reason why Walsh is in trouble now.

After Casey walked out of the station, she got into her car and drove to Walsh's diner, hoping that something would give her a clue as to where he was and why he was missing. When Beaumont had gotten up this morning, Jason was already gone and she hadn't noticed anything unusual within the diner before she left, which meant that if he had been kidnapped, the struggle, which he surely would have given his attackers, didn't take place there. However, the diner was her only starting point.

When she arrived, the front entrance was locked, as was the back entrance, which meant that Jason had left the diner. However, his car was still in the space where he always parked it, down the alley right besides the building. He must have gone out for a walk and so Casey headed down the alley and found that his car was untouched and that there was nothing else indicating a struggle had taken place there either.

She continued walking a little further down the street until she came to another alley a few blocks away. Casey was about to turn away from it, until her eye suddenly caught sight of the end of a piece of white cloth hanging out from a dumpster a few feet away, inside the alley. Casey walked toward it and as she opened the dumpster's lid, she slowly pulled out the cloth and discovered that it wasn't just a strip or piece of ordinary cloth, but a white apron, one just like the apron Walsh usually wore when he served and prepared the food, except it was no longer white with food stains as it should have been. As Casey held it up, she found that there was blood soaking into the cloth. Fear suddenly struck her as she knew without a doubt that the blood was her partner's.

Meanwhile…

Back inside the police department, Beaumont was growing more and more tense as she waited for any news on Jason from Detective Shraeger, but a little more than an hour had gone by since she left. Since then, there had been no call and no message from her letting Allison know that he had been found and was all right. She knew now for sure that he had been kidnapped, otherwise he would be there.

Sergeant Brown walked out of his office after he hung up the phone in frustration and called out, "Delahoy, Banks; you are now officially on the two dead bodies case that I had originally assigned to Walsh and Shraeger! Unfortunately, the case is too important to push off onto someone else."

The two of them quickly looked at each other, then back at their boss as Detective Banks spoke up asking, "What's up, Sergeant? I mean, has there been any word on Walsh yet?"

"He's probably out just playing hooky for a day," Delahoy spoke up casually.

"Detective Walsh is now officially missing and we have reason to believe that he's been kidnapped by unknown assailants," Sergeant Brown answered. "Delahoy, when have you ever known Detective Walsh to run off to play hooky?"

Eric looked down at his feet as he responded, "Never, Sir."

Beaumont quickly looked over at her partner in fear, not really noticing his shocked and confused expression, then turned to their boss and asked, "Sir, what makes you believe that Jason's been kidnapped? I mean, there could be a number of reasons why he isn't here."

"I just got off the phone with Shraeger," the sergeant replied. "She called to inform me that she just found a bloodied apron in an alley dumpster a few blocks from Jason's diner. There's a tear in the fabric about the size of a dagger. There's no doubt in her mind that the apron belongs to Walsh. Since no one here has been able to reach him and he's not here, I am inclined to believe her. She's currently on her way back here to the station. Cole, Beaumont, and Alvarez, I want you to help her to do whatever it takes to find him. I'll be working with you, as will the rest of the department. Finding Detective Walsh is our number one priority. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Sir," Cole answered grimly, as everyone else just nodded and began to work on whatever they could to get started.

She still failed to see the nervousness in her partner's face, as Beaumont walked over to stand in front of him and said, "This doesn't make any sense. Something's been bothering him for weeks and then this morning, I find out from Casey that whatever it is may have something to do with his disappearance. What is going on? Why kidnap him today?"

Cole replied, "I don't know. It's possible Walsh just ticked off someone in one of his previous cases and they finally decided to do something about it. It may not have anything to do with why he's been upset. Listen, I'm going to help you do whatever it takes to find Walsh, I promise, but I need to step out for about an hour to talk with my fiancée, who's worried about something thanks to my friend, who's in town. You don't mind, do you?"

"No, of course not," Allison answered. "Just try to hurry back. You heard the sergeant and I really need you, Cole.

"I'll be back," the younger detective responded. "I owe Walsh for being here for me when I needed him. See you later."


	8. Chapter 8

Unkindest Cut of All

Chapter Eight

After Detective Cole left the police station, he worked to get a hold of his brother on his cell, but the older man didn't answer. So, Cole ran to his car, dropped his phone in the seat beside him, and began to speed off toward his apartment, where he assumed, or hoped, Tommy was at that moment. As soon as he arrived, he ran up the stairs and when he entered inside his apartment, he found Tommy quickly pulling a shirt over his head, then watched him as he walked over to the nightstand beside the bed he slept in, and pull out a gun. He checked to make sure it was loaded and then stuffed it into the back of his pants.

Tommy noticed his brother as soon as he walked in, but he ignored him until Cole finally began to shout, "What have you done? I warned you not to do anything stupid!"

The older brother turned to look at Cole and answered, "I promise you, Navan, I had nothing to do with this. My ex girlfriend is crazy. She and I went and spoke with the detective last night, just to get a feel for, well for who he was. I brought her because I didn't want to appear suspicious to him as I asked him whatever questions I asked him. Afterwards, I dumped her because I got mad that she almost blew that I'm an ex con. I had no intention of hurting him or kidnapping him, at least not any time soon. You have to believe me."

"My name is not Navan Granger anymore," Cole asked again angrily. "For the last time, I'm Henry Cole now. Why would your ex want to kidnap him? Walsh's partner found his apron in a dumpster down an alley not too far from his diner. It was covered in blood! Is he still alive?"

"I just got off the phone with her," Tommy responded as he placed his hand on Cole's shoulder. "Lisa assured me he was all right, but she didn't tell what condition he was in. I'm on my way to meet up with her right now down at the docks where she works. She has him locked up inside one of the shipping containers. Henry, this is going to work out for the best. The detective will no longer be around to cause you trouble and there is no way his disappearance can be linked back to me or you. Even if they find his body, which we can easily arrange so that they won't, they won't know where to begin their search for his killer. This is perfect!"

Cole shoved his brother's hand away and replied angrily, "You don't know his partner. You don't know mine. They'll stop at nothing to find out what happened to him. Besides, we don't know if Walsh told his partner about me or my past. She hasn't said anything to me and she hasn't treated me any differently, but if he did say something to her, I'll be her first suspect and I'll lose Beaumont for good."

Tommy looked at him in surprise and asked, "This Beaumont, she's your partner? Do you have a thing for her or something?"

"No, of course not," Cole answered quickly. "She's just my partner, but she's also my best friend. Besides, I'm getting married, remember? If I become a suspect, I could lose her too and my name will be ruined. Also, Jason had the chance to rat me out to our boss before and he didn't. He's a good man. He doesn't deserve this."

"If we don't finish this, Henry, you will lose everything," his brother responded sadly. "It's too late to turn back now. Let's go to the docks together and find out how much he's told his partner, then Lisa and I will take care of everything else. You don't have to become anymore involved."

Cole glared at his brother and asked bitterly, "And if Walsh did talk to his partner about me? What then? Are you going to kill her too? How far are you going to take this?"

Tommy replied, "As far as I have to in order to protect you and to protect myself. We're brothers, Henry. Are you with me?"

"I don't think I have a choice," the younger brother answered sadly as Tommy walked over to the door and opened it. "God doesn't forgive murderers."

"God can't fault you for being related to one," Tommy responded. "Besides, it will be me doing the dirty work, not you. You don't have to fear for your soul's welfare."

Meanwhile…

Jason sat up as straight as he could against the back of the metal container as the door opened. He couldn't help it as he squinted and held his free hand up to his eyes when the sun shined in, as he had been in the dark for some time now. Once his eyes finally readjusted, he looked up at Lisa as she slowly walked toward him with some clean bandages and medical supplies in her arms, but he didn't say anything and neither did she; at least not right away.

Instead, she only stood there looking down at him until a few minutes passed and she finally spoke up saying, "I'm glad to see you're still alive, Detective Walsh. I wasn't planning on hurting you to get you here. I am sorry that my brother's friends stabbed you and for the knock to the head. How are you feeling?"

Walsh ran his hand along the back of his head over the lump that had now formed there and softly replied, "Under the circumstances, I feel fine. As I asked you before, what do you and your boyfriend want from me?"

"I was only brought into this by Tommy so that you wouldn't be suspicious of his little visit to your diner last night," Lisa answered. "He wanted some information from you before he decided how to get rid of you, but after we left, Tommy broke up with me. I love him, so I decided to help him out with you so that he will see that I'm not useless."

"What kind of information?" Jason asked as he continued to stare at her, while holding his chained hand over the knife wound.

She replied, "I'm not really sure. He didn't talk about what the problem was much. I do know that it has something to do with helping out his brother though."

Walsh moved stiffly as he asked again, "Who is the brother?"

"I've already said too much," she answered as she bent down in front of him and began to remove the bloody bandage in order to look over the wound. "Don't worry, Detective. I'm only making sure your wound is taken care of. I can't have you dying just yet. It looks like you're bleeding out more than I expected. I'll take care of it."

"I appreciate that," he responded as she slowly cleaned and bandaged the wound up once again. "Whatever you and Tommy want, Miss. Jensen, you're not going to get it from me. You're wasting your time and you've thrown away your life, for nothing. As I said before, you're a fool."

She ignored him as she finished up, then pulled out a syringe from inside her coat pocket, and injected the needle into Walsh's neck, while she whispered, "Don't worry, Detective. This is only meant to help you sleep so that you won't be stupid enough to hurt yourself in trying to escape. I'll be back later tonight, with Tommy. We'll talk then. Good bye."

Jason tried to keep his eyes focused on her as she stood up. However, his vision began to grow dark and he slowly fell unconscious once again. Lisa smiled down at him, then turned to exit from the container, leaving the medical supplies on the ground beside him. As she left, she walked along the dock, among numerous containers, where there was no one else around, and headed up to the office where she worked in order to wait for Tommy to arrive.


	9. Chapter 9

Unkindest Cut of All

Chapter Nine

Tommy and Cole arrived at the office inside the shipyard where Lisa worked within twenty minutes. Cole drove and as he did, his brother noticed that he kept glancing at his watch every few minutes. Tommy couldn't help but laugh at how uptight his kid brother had become over the years.

"What's so funny?" Cole asked grumbling.

"You are, Little Brother," Tommy replied as he chuckled again. "You've changed way too much. If you didn't keep that baby face of yours, I never would have recognized you when I first saw you again. You need to relax and stop staring at your watch like a cop. Do you have someplace you've got to be?"

Cole glared at him as they both got out of the car and began to walk up to the office and responded, "I am a cop, Tommy. I'm supposed to be at work, helping my partner and the rest of my department find the man your stupid girlfriend kidnapped. Do you even care that you're about to ruin my life? I've spent years trying to erase my past and you've managed to bring it down in just two days."

The older man answered, "I told you, you're going to be just fine. I will make sure that Detective Walsh's death is not linked back to you, I promise. Now, let's go find out what's going on, all right?"

"Hello again, Tommy," Lisa said as she quickly stepped out of the office when she saw them walking toward her building, not wanting them to walk in where the rest of her coworkers were. "I am glad you came, but I wasn't expecting you to bring your brother with you. I was hoping we could talk in private."

"My brother's here because he's a cop," Tommy replied as the three of them began to walk along the docks toward the container.

She suddenly stopped as she turned to Tommy and asked angrily, "You brought a cop down here? After all they did to you and you're still talking to a cop?"

Tommy responded, "Take it easy, Lisa. He's with me. Now, what on earth were you thinking when you kidnapped a detective with the NYPD?"

"As I told you, I thought I was doing you a favor," Lisa answered as they continued walking while she kept glancing back at Cole. "You wanted a chance to talk to him before you got rid of him and you needed to do it without witnesses. I got him out here for you and no one knows what happened to him."

"You mean, no one except for the gang members you hired to take him," the older man said. "If any of them are caught, any one of them could snitch on us."

She replied, "Only my brother knows what's going on and he would never snitch on me. Now, I gave your man a sedative not too long ago to knock him out, only in order to keep him from trying to escape; not that he could."

Cole watched her as she and Tommy opened the container's doors and asked, "How badly is he hurt?"

"He fought hard against my brother's gang," she responded as Cole slowly walked inside the container and stood above the unconscious man he somewhat considered a friend. "They had no choice, but to take him down with a knife to the gut. The wound is bad, but I've taken care of it enough so that you can talk to him later when he wakes up. He isn't in danger yet. He's tough."

"Jason doesn't deserve to die like this," Cole said sadly as he knelt down and took a look at the wound for himself, as well as checked his pulse to make sure he was really all right for now. "My partner's dating him. They might even be in love. I'm not really sure, but she'll never forgive me if she finds out I was involved in his death."

Tommy knelt down beside him and whispered so that Lisa couldn't hear him, "What if she learns that you are the one responsible for finding his killers instead. Lisa's brother and his gang are the ones that did this to him. You can make up the evidence that points to them, you can be the one, who discovers this evidence, and you can be the arresting officer. You can be the hero and your partner will be all yours and forget all about him in no time. I saw a picture of her in your apartment. She's a fine woman."

Cole stood up, followed by his brother, and said, "I don't think of her like that. Don't you dare talk about her that way. I need to get back to the police department. I told her I'd be back in an hour and I'm already late."

"So, are we moving forward with our plans then?" Lisa asked smugly.

"Yeah, I think we're good," Tommy answered as he continued to look at his brother. "You will do this, right Nav… Henry? For Frankie? For me? For us?"

Cole stared between him and Lisa and regrettably replied, "God forgive me, but yes. I'll do it, but when this is all over, I want you to leave town and never bother me again. Navan Granger is dead. I am Detective Henry Cole, not your brother. Do I make myself clear?"

Tommy looked at him smugly and responded, "All right, Little Brother. If that's what you want, then you've got yourself a deal. It will all work out. You'll see."

The detective glared at him, then turned and walked out of the container in order to get back to the police station before he got into trouble with his partner for being late when she really needed him. Tommy only smiled as he watched him leave, as did Lisa, but as soon as he knew that his brother was gone, he suddenly turned around and shot her in her chest using a gun with a silencer so that he wouldn't alert anyone, who may be nearby. She cried out in pain as she collapsed to the floor and stared into his deep, dark eyes, longing for an explanation.

"I'm sorry, Baby, but I can't have you around to spoil our plans," Tommy said coldly. "I appreciate you getting us started, but you're nothing, but a liability. I can't risk you getting caught and ratting me and my brother out to the cops."

Lisa died without being able to say a word, as tears fell down her face. Detective Walsh was right about her being a fool to do all of this for love, when Tommy didn't love or care for her in return. After she died, Tommy once again knelt over Walsh in order to check him over and make sure he was still alive. He wasn't through with him yet, but once he wakes up and Tommy gets from him what he needs, the detective's and his ex's bodies will be shipped out and dumped into the ocean, where they will never be found.


	10. Chapter 10

Unkindest Cut of All

Chapter Ten

Casey was pacing back and forth inside her partner's diner while she waited impatiently for the crime scene techs to finish up searching the place, as well as down the alley, for anything that may give her a lead to Walsh's whereabouts, or at least to whoever may have taken him. She figured the fight must have taken place in the alley, not inside his diner where Beaumont would have heard the struggle.

Beaumont walked in the diner area from the back where Jason lived and took a seat at one of the stools at the counter, followed by Casey, who sat down next to her. Neither one of them spoke as they just sat there in silence. Casey knew what Allison wanted to know and Allison knew that Casey would only say she couldn't tell her the truth, so neither one of them spoke.

After a few minutes of silence, Cole finally burst into the diner and Beaumont stood as she asked angrily, "Where the hell have you been? You should have been back over half an hour ago."

Cole quickly looked over at Casey, then looked back at his own partner and answered, while Casey listened in on their conversation as her suspicion of the younger detective set in, "I'm sorry I'm late. My fiancée was pretty upset about something that happened last night and I had to straighten everything out. It turns out, it was all a misunderstanding, but none of this matters right now. Have you found anything that may help us find Jason yet?"

"No, not yet," Beaumont responded in frustration. "I never realized before how long some of these searches can take, even though it really hasn't been that long. It just feels like it."

"It feels that way because you care about him," Cole said, hoping that she would reveal to him whether or not she was actually in love with Walsh.

However, she only replied, "Yeah. So far, all we have to go on is his bloody apron. It's possible that all that blood is not all his, but I have a feeling we're not going to be so lucky. Brown has ordered the techs to fast track any and all evidence we find regarding Walsh."

Cole nodded as he spoke up again saying, "That's good. I…"

"We're all done in here, Detectives," one of the techs' interrupted as he and the others began to leave the diner. "We didn't find much, except for an earring that was on the floor near where you two ladies were sitting."

"I saw the woman wearing this as she and her boyfriend left here last night," Beaumont said as she picked up the earring from the tech's hand as he gave it to her. "It's hard to forget when a person wears something as tacky as this."

Casey looked at the earring as Beaumont held it up and then asked her, "How does something like tacky jewelry stand out to you? I never would have remembered the person wearing this if I had just seen her for a few minutes."

Beaumont answered, "Trust me, you would have remembered her. She looked like a cheaply dressed prostitute, but I don't think she was one, as she didn't wear hardly any makeup. She didn't really act like one and her boyfriend didn't treat her like one. However, as I said before, I only saw her for a few seconds. I could be wrong."

"How does talking about any of this help us to find Detective Walsh?" Cole asked as he became annoyed with the conversation, knowing that the people his partner and Detective Shraeger were talking about were his brother and ex girlfriend.

"You're right," Casey responded as the last tech left. "We should probably go back out to the alley to see if they found anything more than just that."

Both Sergeant Brown and Detective Alvarez walked into the diner through the back and having heard the last part of their conversation, their boss replied, "There wasn't a whole lot out there, but we did actually find the bloody knife used to stab, well whoever it was that got stabbed. Since there was a tear through his apron the size of a knife, as well as all that blood, I'm assuming the blood on this knife will be Walsh's too, but until we get the tests results back, we can't say for sure."

Casey asked, "Where did you find the knife? Was it in the trash along with his apron? I doubt whoever attacked him would just throw away the weapon used to hurt a cop. It would have his or her fingerprints all over it."

"Actually, Eddie Alvarez found it on the ground underneath the dumpster," Eddie answered a little too proudly.

"From the blood trail and the footprints we found smeared among the blood and in the snow, it looks like Jason put up one hell of a fight against his attackers," Sergeant Brown responded. "It's possible that he managed to knock it from the hands of whoever hurt him, causing it to skid where we found it. We'll get it all analyzed as quickly as possible."

Eddie spoke up again saying, "One of the techs also found a woman's earring on the ground out there. If you ask me, it's pretty ugly."

As the pompous detective held the earring up, Casey did a double take and grabbed it out of his hand as she turned to Beaumont and quickly said, "Beaumont, you are a genius!"

"What are you talking about, Shraeger?" their boss asked as he didn't understand what she meant.

"One of the techs found this matching earring on the floor here just a few minutes ago," Beaumont replied. "I know who one of Jason's attackers was and I'm betting that the guy she was with here last night is in on it as well."

Brown looked at her as he asked again, "Are you saying you saw them in here last night when you came by to be with Detective Walsh?"

As Casey walked behind the counter and began to work on something they couldn't see, Beaumont answered, "Yes, Sir. I walked in just as the woman wearing these earrings walked out with her boyfriend. The last thing I heard the guy ask Jason was if Jason played major league baseball. He acted like he recognized Jason from somewhere. Walsh has been upset about something lately, but I couldn't get him to open up to me about it."

"Well, thanks to Walsh having a hidden camera in here, I can bring up video of our suspects," Casey said from behind the counter.

"Grab the tape and bring it with you as we head back to the station," the sergeant responded quickly. "We'll all view it there. It'll be a lot easier than for all of us to cram back there and besides, our techs will be able to analyze it at the same time."

Casey pulled the video tape and put it inside her coat pocket as she replied, "Good call, Sir. I can barely make out what's on the video from that tiny screen he uses. Man needs to bring his security up to date."

After everyone else walked out of the diner first, Cole took the moment alone to breathe in and out, as he felt as if he was about to panic when Walsh's partner announced that there was evidence of his brother being in the diner with the woman, whose earrings were found at both his diner, as well as at the crime scene where Walsh had been attacked and taken from. He realized that he would have to act fast to do something to point the finger at Lisa only in order to help his brother, but he wasn't sure yet how he was going to do it.

He cursed both Lisa and his brother under his breath, when all of a sudden, his partner walked back in and asked, "Hey, is everything all right? We need to go."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Cole answered. "It just donned on me that we are going to be working really late for the next few nights. My fiancée's going to kill me."

"I doubt that," Allison responded gently. "She's even more of a saint than you are. She couldn't hurt you if she wanted to. She'll be very understanding. You'll see."


	11. Chapter 11

Unkindest Cut of All

Chapter Eleven

Later in the afternoon…

Tommy caught a cab back to the shipyard and headed back to the container, hoping that the detective was awake so that he'd finally get the chance to talk to him. When he arrived, he found that most of the dock workers had gone home for the day, making the shipyard seem more like a graveyard to him, which was funny, as it was going to be just that for both Detective Walsh and his ex. As he stood in front of the container, he pulled out the keys he had stolen off of Lisa's body and pulled open its heavy doors. The sun was beginning to go down, as it was soon going to be evening, but there was still enough light shining in the box so that he could make out that Walsh was awake.

"Hello again, Detective Walsh," Tommy spoke up first as he slowly approached the younger man and stood above him. "It's good to see you again."

"I wish I could say the feeling's mutual, but under the circumstances… let's just say a few other words come to mind," Jason struggled to respond as he was becoming ill and slowly beginning to freeze due to the cold, winter's air. "I see that Lisa's plan to win you back failed. I tried to warn her, but she wouldn't listen. Why'd you have to kill her?"

Tommy answered smugly, "Because she was a liability. I couldn't risk her ratting me out to the cops should she have gotten caught. I didn't plan this, Detective, but I'd say it all worked out for the best."

Walsh struggled to sit up straighter against the back of the container, as he continued to hold his chained hand against the deep knife wound in his abdomen, and then replied, "Maybe for now, but in the end, you'll realize you made a mistake, as you and your brother sit inside a cell at Rikers waiting for the needle to be injected into your arm and its poison to burn its way into your bloodstream."

"You know about Nav… Henry being here?" Tommy asked as he quickly caught his mistake of using his brother's real name.

"I knew about your brother being involved thanks to Lisa, but I didn't know that your brother is now Detective Henry Cole," Jason said as a weak smile appeared on his face. "You just told me that yourself."

The older brother quickly shouted, "Henry has nothing to do with this! Despite my influence, he's become a better man."

Walsh sadly responded, "That's what I thought too, but it looks like my instinct was right. I should have told my sergeant everything when I had the chance. I'm guessing he's going to help you do with me, exactly what he and Frank Lutz did with my old partner? Am I right? I know that Cole wants to be a good man and that he thinks he's found God, but he's made too many mistakes. If he truly wanted to change, he wouldn't have called Frank when my partner found out about his past, he wouldn't have tampered with the evidence that would have led us to my partner's killer, and he wouldn't have told Frank about me knowing the truth as well. Eventually, he's going to find himself in a hole that he can't dig himself out of and you'll likely end up dead; just like Frank. In the end, Cole will do whatever it takes to protect himself."

"You know, I agree with you about Henry not really wanting to change, but you're wrong about him giving me up in order to protect himself," Tommy answered as he knelt over him and put his hand on Walsh's forehead in order to check for a fever that he had no doubt was beginning to rise. "You're pretty smart, Detective Walsh. You know what's what and you don't hold anything back. I'm going to leave you to rot in here, just like my ex, but first… actually, you know what? I was going to ask you if you had mentioned anything about my brother's past to your partner, to see if I was going to have to get rid of her too, but I think I'm just going to do it anyway. You would probably lie to me in order to protect her; not that I would blame you. You cops have some kind of code. You protect each other no matter what. Am I right?"

"You won't be able to hurt her," Jason replied firmly. "She's smarter than me. And she's a hell of a lot stronger. If you try, you'll get caught. Besides, I'm sure she's surrounded by a number of cops as they're all out there looking for me."

Tommy stood back up and said smugly, "You underestimate me as well. Good bye, Detective. Oh! And by the way, I knew I was right about you being that baseball player, whose girlfriend died in that mugging. I found your card. Enjoy."

Tommy tossed the card down on the floor beside Walsh's legs and then turned and left the container, closing and locking the doors behind him, as Walsh was once again left alone in the dark. Jason continued to struggle against chain that bound his wrist, even though he knew it wasn't going to do him any good. However, after a few minutes, a thought suddenly came to him as he looked down at Lisa's body, which wasn't too far away from where he sat. He wasn't sure yet how he was going to escape from the container, but now he could at least get himself free from the chain, thanks to the pins that once held up Lisa's hair.

Meanwhile…

After the detectives and their boss arrived back at the station, they quickly handed off the evidence they had gathered to the techs in charge of analyzing it, then had one of them work to enhance the footage from the tape that Walsh's partner had pulled from his surveillance equipment inside his diner.

After watching the footage of their suspects, Sergeant Brown ordered the techs to run the photos of them through the database. He turned to his team to get any input as they all waited impatiently for the techs to come back with any answers that would hopefully lead them to where Walsh was being held, or that would end up leading them to the people responsible for his kidnapping.

Delahoy was the first to speak up as he said, "There's nothing on that surveillance tape that gives us a clue as to what these two were doing there, other than grabbing a bite to eat."

"I thought I assigned you and Banks on the other case, Delahoy?" Sergeant Brown asked as he rubbed his hand over his eyes in frustration.

"We're waiting for our evidence to come back, the same as you, Sir," the detective with a strange view on death responded. "Besides, we want to help find Walsh, just like everyone else. Who cares about some political candidate's reputation and his frickin' want for discretion in the case."

Banks quickly added, "Walsh is the number one priority, Sir. You taught us that."

The sergeant answered, "You're right, I did."

"What I meant was that all we know is that the woman with the funky earrings was inside Walsh's diner, lost one of her earrings there, and then was in the alley sometime between the time she and her boyfriend left the diner and this morning and lost her other earring there," Delahoy continued. "It's a weak argument that would never hold up in court. If we were to bring her in based on this, her lawyer could argue that the earring in the alley could easily have been someone else's."

"So the video doesn't give us much, except for a possible suspect," Casey replied in frustration as she began to look at the pictures the techs had taken inside the alley. "What about the rest of the evidence? As I'm looking at these photos, it's obvious that there was more than one person, who attacked Walsh. There are several different types of shoe prints in the snow."

Beaumont looked at the pictures and responded, "I'd say there are at least five different shoe prints. We found a bloody knife, as well as an old pipe with more blood on it. What if it was a group of thugs that attacked him? I mean, based on the prints, they look like they could be either tennis shoes or boots that a bunch of gang bangers would wear."

Cole looked at his partner and then nodded as he added, "I agree with Beaumont. She's right about the shoe prints and I know that there are a couple of different gangs that hang out around there. I think…"

"But it doesn't make any sense!" Casey suddenly interrupted angrily. "Surely any gangs that live in the area know that Walsh is a cop and not just the owner of a diner that is hardly ever open. I've been to the diner a number of times and I've seen the thugs around, but they've never bothered him and he would have told me if they had. Why would they attack and kidnap a cop, unless they were hired to by someone else? These thugs would certainly do this if given the right price."

Sergeant Brown answered, "Unfortunately, all we've got is speculation until we get the evidence back. Keep looking into anything and everything. Look into Walsh's past if you have to and find out if there's anyone, who has a grudge against him, including any ex-cons he put away, as well as the scum still inside."

By midnight, the only people left at the station working to help find Detective Walsh were his partner, Detectives Beaumont, Cole, Alvarez, Delahoy, Banks, and Sergeant Brown, as well as two of the techs, who agreed to stay until they finally finished analyzing the rest of the evidence.

As everyone else was still in the main room rubbing the tiredness from their eyes as they waited impatiently, Cole snuck away, walked down into the lab, and asked one of the tech's, "How's it coming along? Have you finished with the database search on our possible suspects from the diner yet?"

"Actually, yes," the woman replied. "We finished that some time ago, but we got so caught up with everything else, that we forgot to bring it to you. Sorry."

"No problem," Cole responded as he picked up the file, which she handed to him. "Let's hope that these two are them."

As Cole turned and left the room, she shouted out to him, "Good luck!"

Cole quickly walked into the precinct's bathroom as he looked over the rap sheets of both Lisa Jensen and Tommy Granger. After doing so, he pulled his brother's out, ran the papers under water until the pages were soaked through and torn, then crumpled them up into a ball, and finally tossed the wads into the trash can on his way out, making it so that the other detectives would never know the pages existed.

As soon as Cole came out from the bathroom with the rest of the file in his hand, he ran into his partner, who asked, "Hey, are those the rap sheets of our suspects? Sergeant sent me to get them, as they should definitely be done by now."

"Yeah, I came down to get them a few minutes ago," Cole answered. "It looks like only one of them has a record; the woman. Our tech said that whoever the guy is, he isn't in the system."

"Dang it!" Beaumont replied bitterly as she looked over Lisa Jensen's rap sheet for herself. "I don't see an obvious reason for her to hate Walsh, but she has been in prison for assault, so I wouldn't put this past her and it looks like she has a younger brother, who is a member of a gang. I think she is definitely involved. Thanks, Henry."

Cole just watched her as she walked back toward the main room and once she was gone from his view, he blew out his breath that he didn't realize he had been holding the whole time she was with him. He hated lying to her and to his friends, but he wasn't ready to lose his partner and everything else he's worked so hard to earn, including his fiancée. He had to protect himself and he had to protect his brother, at all costs.


	12. Chapter 12

Unkindest Cut of All

Chapter Twelve

Back at the shipyard…

Under normal circumstances, Walsh would have been able to pick the lock to the chain around his wrist within a minute, no matter how crude or dull the pick he used to do it was. Thankfully, Lisa was wearing a hair piece that used long, dull pins to hold her hair up in place. Using his legs to help him to pull the woman's body toward him, he eventually managed to get a hold of one of the pins and used it to pick the lock. However, his hands were shaking from not only the cold, but also because he was fairly ill at this point, so it took him just over five minutes instead. He had been locked inside this metal container, with the cold air blowing in through the air vent in its top, for about eighteen hours now, not that he actually had any concept of how long it had been since he was taken.

Once he had set himself free, Jason struggled to stand, but in his first few attempts to do so, he quickly collapsed back down to the floor in pain; with one of the attempts nearly causing him to pass out. However, he didn't give up and was eventually rewarded when he finally managed to stay up on his feet. As he did, he slowly moved to the doors, using the walls to steady himself, and worked to push them open, as he believed that there was the slightest chance of them not being locked. Unfortunately, his hope was quickly dashed when he found that the doors were indeed latched.

Eventually, he slowly moved away from the doors and carefully sat back down in order to save what little strength he had left, as he once again placed his sore wrist, thanks to the chain, over the knife wound. Jason had faith that his partner was working to do whatever it took to find him, but despite what he had told Tommy earlier about her strength, the fear for her safety surpassed the fear that he felt for his own wellbeing. Tommy was out there somewhere, waiting for the perfect time to attack Casey too and it didn't sit well with him that there was nothing he could do to warn her. Walsh wasn't a praying man, but the thought came to him that if he was, he would pray that she'd catch him, before he could catch her. He'd also pray for a miracle that would get him out.

The funny thing was, as if someone was reading his thoughts, Jason suddenly heard the sound of people talking from outside, as the latch over the doors was pulled away. Walsh couldn't help, but think that maybe he should become a praying man after all, but he quickly pushed the thought aside, as the doors opened once again and he came face to face with two of his attackers in the alley earlier that morning.

The one, which Walsh recognized as Lisa's brother, walked further into the container and when he saw her body, he quickly pulled out his gun, aimed it at Walsh, and shouted, "You killed my sister!"

Jason put his hands up and replied, "No! No, I didn't hurt her. I tried to… to help her. Her boyfriend did this. I swear to you… it wasn't me."

"Why would Tommy kill her?" the kid asked angrily. "The two of them loved each other."

"She did love him, but he didn't love… love her back," Walsh struggled to explain as chills racked through his body. "Tommy didn't want to risk her ratting on him… if she were to get caught… caught by the cops. He killed her to keep her quiet and left her here with me. If you help me out of here, I promise you… I will find… find him and put in a good word for you… with my friends."

Lisa's brother looked back at his friend, then turned back to Walsh and said, "I'm sorry, but I can't do that, Cop. I'm going to kill you and then I'm going to go after Tommy and kill him. Night, night."

Just as the kid was about to pull the trigger, Walsh suddenly kicked out against his knee, causing him to scream as he fell hard to the floor of the container beside him. Then, Walsh quickly pulled him into a chokehold, using his right arm and leg to hold him in place, while he grabbed his gun and aimed it at the kid's friend standing back near the door in shock.

Jason fought to catch his breath as he glared at the kid standing in front of him and said firmly, "I could shoot you both… if I wanted to, but I'm not… not going to. Instead, you're going to chain his wrist… just like you thugs did… did to me. Do you understand?"

The kid nodded as he quickly did as the detective told him to do, as he saw in Walsh's eyes that he meant what he said. When he pulled Lisa's brother up from his grasp, the kid attempted to attack Walsh once again, but Walsh quickly fired a shot into his arm, causing the kid to collapse to his knees and scream out again in pain.

"All right!" the brother cried out as the other kid continued to do as he ordered. "All right, just please. Don't kill me."

"I'm not going to," Walsh responded as he slowly struggled to get back up onto his feet, while continuing to hold the gun on them. "I'm going to leave you here… and your friend is going to drive me… to find… my partner. The doors will remain open and… and either the dock workers will find you when they come in for work in the morn…morning, or my friends will when they come to pick… you up. Your wound is nothing. You'll be just fine. I'm sorry… about your sister."

Once Lisa's brother was chained up and Walsh was on his feet, he ordered the other gang member to help him out to their car that they came to the shipyard in, as he assured him that he would kill him if he tried to be as stupid as his leader. The kid knew that the detective was serious and so he did as Walsh said.

After they were both in the car and had begun to drive, the kid turned to Walsh and asked, "Why didn't you kill us, or at least Jake? Most cops would have."

Jason looked at him and answered softly, "Maybe, but not me. I don't kill… unless I have to. Besides, Jake's parents… already lost a daughter. It wouldn't be right… right for them to have to lose their son too."

"Where are we going?" the kid asked as he gained a new found respect for this detective. "You need a hospital. You're bleeding again."

"No, I need to warn my part… partner," Walsh replied while he lowered the gun, as he could see that the kid was no longer a threat to him. "We're going to the police station. Then, you're free to go to… to help Jake until the police arrive. I'll put in a good word… for you as I promised."

The kid nodded as he responded, "My name is Kyle. Thank you, Officer."

A small smile appeared on Jason's face as he answered, "Detective; I'm Detective Walsh."

"Thank you, Detective Walsh," Kyle said as he looked ahead and continued to drive.


	13. Chapter 13

Unkindest Cut of All

Chapter Thirteen

Detective Cole followed his partner, Beaumont, back into the main squad room, and shared with the remaining teammates the information from Lisa Jensen's rap sheet, given to her by Cole. Given that she had been in prison for a few different assault charges in her past and that she had been in both Walsh's diner and in the alley where he was attacked, she quickly became suspect number one. Even though the boyfriend had no record, at least not that they knew about thanks to Cole, they still suspected him because of his association with Lisa.

By two o'clock in the morning, the five remaining detectives, as well as Sergeant Brown, had gone through most of Walsh's previous cases, going all the way back to when he had first arrived at this precinct, which was before any of them, including when he was partnered up with Kowalski. A few of the perps Walsh had put away became suspects as well, but as it was the middle of the night, there was nothing more any of them could do and so their sergeant finally gave them the order to go home and get some sleep so that they could pick up where they left off again in the morning.

"But, Sir, we can't just go home and sleep like everything's okay because it isn't," Casey said angrily. "Walsh is out there, in God knows what condition and you expect us to just shrug it off until morning?"

"I don't like this anymore than you do, Shraeger, but unfortunately, there is nothing more we can do until tomorrow," Brown answered in frustration. "All we have left is to interview the suspects and we can't go breaking down all their doors at this time of night. Go home and come back rested because no doubt, Walsh, if he's still alive, will need you awake and alert by the time we find him."

Casey scoffed as everyone else left the room, except for Beaumont, who walked up to her and softly replied, "Jason's still alive. We'll find him. Unfortunately, that won't help me to sleep any better than you, but the sergeant's right that we need to try anyway. Good night."

The rookie of the team stared after Beaumont as she walked away, but before she left the room, Casey quickly called out to her as she asked, "Hey Beaumont, do you love him?"

"I'm not really sure what I feel for him," Allison responded as she quickly looked around to make sure no one else was around to listen, then turned back to look at Casey. "I think I could, but we haven't been together all that long and he hasn't been making it very easy to talk to lately, as he's refused to talk to me about what's been bothering him. I just don't know."

"And what about Cole?" Casey quickly asked before Beaumont could turn away from her again.

Allison looked confused as she asked, "What about Cole?"

Casey corrected her question as she asked again, "I mean, how do you feel about him? Do you really trust him?"

"I trust him completely," Beaumont answered without hesitation. "He's the best partner I've ever had. Why is that so important?"

"No reason," Casey quickly replied. "Never mind; forget I asked. Good night. I'll see you in the morning."

Beaumont looked at Shraeger in confusion for a minute, then turned around and walked out. Casey watched her leave and then turned back to look at Walsh's desk for a moment, almost expecting him to be sitting there, just as he always was at the end of the night. Walsh always seemed to be there for her when she needed him to be, whether it was to come up with some witty remark that would help her to forget about her worries long enough to clear her head and to get back to thinking straight again, or it was to be someone to just sit there and listen to her complaints or worries.

It was then that Casey quickly said to herself in regards to what Beaumont had said about Cole, "No, Walsh is the kind of cop you should put your complete trust in, even with all his secrets."

By two- thirty, Casey parked her car outside of Walsh's diner, instead of going home. She knew she should at least attempt to try to sleep, but she knew it wasn't going to happen anyway, so she came to the diner instead, hoping that by being there would spark some kind of memory or an idea that would give her something to work with.

As she started to unlock the doors, thanks to the keys Walsh had given her some time ago, for whatever reason he had done it for, she was suddenly startled as she heard her name being called out by the last person she expected to come down there after being at work as late as it was; Eddie Alvarez.

"Detective Shraeger!" he called out as he ran up to her.

"Alvarez, what on earth are you doing here?" Casey asked as he worked on catching his breath. "Were you following me?"

Once he was able to do so, Eddie responded, "No, no, I figured you'd come here instead of going home. I knew that you weren't going to give up and despite what the others think of me, Eddie Alvarez wants to help, other than just being stuck looking over the old cases. Jason and I have a rocky friendship at best, but nevertheless, it's the only friendship I've got, so here I am."

Casey smiled and patted him on the arm, then finished unlocking the door to the diner as she answered, "I'm sure Walsh would appreciate this, like I do. You can call me Casey and don't refer to yourself in the third person anymore. It's just weird."

"You've got it," Eddie replied as they walked inside. "I would have expected Beaumont to be here too, as she's in love with him. Isn't she?"

"I don't really know, but I think they've hit kind of a rough patch lately," Casey responded as she took her usual seat at the counter. "Don't go telling anyone I told you that. It's none of my business and it's certainly none of yours. I came here hoping that something will come to me that will give me an idea on what I can do to help him. I hate not knowing if he's all right."

Eddie looked around and then asked, "Have you tried any of his food? I've always wanted to come in some time, but I've just never gotten around to it."

Casey answered, "To be honest, it's terrible, but it actually hits the spot first thing in the morning. However, he does make a mean burger."

"I'll have to come and try it sometime once we find him," Alvarez replied as Casey stood and moved around to the other side of the counter in order to once again pull up the camera footage, which she had made a copy of back at the precinct, on his surveillance television. "What more do you think you'll learn from watching the footage of our suspects again?"

"I'm not really sure, but there has to be something on here," Shraeger responded as Alvarez joined her behind the counter. "It's not so much our suspects that I'm watching, as it's Walsh that I'm more interested in. I don't think the girl's as much of a suspect as our guy is."

Eddie watched Walsh closer on the film and then said, "I don't understand what you mean. He's not doing anything. Is there something you see that I don't?"

Casey kept watching as she answered, "It isn't what he's doing, but more of his body language and facial expressions I'm interested in, which are a little hard to make out on this tiny screen. He's paying much more attention to our guy than he is to the woman. Jason looks worried, or nervous. There's something suspicious about him."

"He looks familiar to me," Eddie replied. "But I don't have a clue as to where I've seen him before."

"Oh God, Alvarez, you're a genius!" Casey exclaimed as she quickly turned off the tape and headed out the door.

Eddie followed after her as he quickly asked, "What did I say? What did you just figure out?"

Casey ignored him as she shut off the light and then worked on locking up again, as the cold was making it difficult for her to work her fingers. As she was doing so and Eddie had his eyes trained on her while trying to figure out what she meant, a person wearing a scarf over his nose and mouth and a hat over his head slowly walked by them. Once Casey finally finished, she and Alvarez turned and began to walk in the opposite direction of the stranger, when all of a sudden, they were both pushed down to the ground as gunfire erupted from above them.

Both Casey and Eddie quickly pulled out their guns and aimed them as they turned over to see what on earth was going on, when they heard someone shouting for them to stay down, but they both began to fire toward the stranger that had walked by moments ago, as they saw that he was trying to fire in their direction, while taking cover from the shots being fired back at him by them and whoever it was that had pushed the confused detectives down. In a few seconds, the guy suddenly stopped his shooting and quickly took off running away, while holding his hand over his arm, as he appeared to have caught at least one of their bullets.

Casey looked up at the man, who had just saved both her and Eddie, and saw that it was Walsh when he slowly turned his head in her direction as he fell against the building and asked, "Are you guys… all right?"

"Walsh?" she cried out in surprise until he suddenly collapsed and both she and Alvarez reached up to catch him to keep him from falling hard against the ground. "Oh God, Walsh! Hold on. Eddie, call for an ambulance; now!"

"I'm calling," Eddie responded as he quickly pulled out his cell and called for help. "This is Detective Alvarez. I'm at Walsh's diner on Sixth and Main Street. We need an ambulance right away. We've got an officer down. I repeat, an officer down!"

Casey held her partner in her arms as his body was trembling violently from not only the cold, but the pain she could see he was obviously in, as she saw that he was bleeding out from a bandaged wound in his abdomen, as well as a new wound in his right shoulder, very close to his neck, caused by one of their attacker's shots just moments ago. He wasn't wearing a jacket and his shirt was torn open, probably from his fight before he was taken. His skin was freezing cold to her touch, but she also felt heat radiating off of his forehead, as well as from the bullet wound, which she was now holding her free hand tightly against. Once Alvarez was off his phone, he quickly applied pressure over the wound in his abdomen.

Walsh struggled to keep his eyes open, as he looked up at Casey and stammered, "He's in… involved. He's… bro… brother."

Casey had a hard time understanding what he was trying to tell her, so she quickly asked, "What are trying to say? He's whose brother? Do you mean, Cole? Don't worry, all right? I already know. Just stay with me. You're going to be fine."

"Be careful," Jason whispered as the pain become more intense, causing him to close his eyes tightly and squeeze Eddie's free hand hard.

"We'll get them," Casey continued as she pulled him in closer to try to warm him a little and then looked over at Eddie. "Lay your jacket over him until the ambulance arrives."

Eddie looked down at Jason and then back up at her as he complained, "But it's cold out here?"

Casey glared at him as she answered angrily, "And he's freezing to death, now do it!"

"All right!" he muttered as he quickly let go of Walsh to do what she said. "You're going to be okay, Jason. Help's going to be here any second."

"Tell Allis… Allison, I'm so… sorry," Jason barely made out as a tear escaped from the corner of his eye as he sadly looked up again at his partner until his eyes slowly drifted closed again for good.

Casey tried to wake him as she gently shook him and patted the side of his face, but he didn't stir. She looked up fearfully into Eddie's eyes, then leaned down and whispered into his ear, begging him to keep fighting. Casey grew angry as she watched her partner struggle to breathe; not at him for his stupidity in pushing them out of the way of their attacker's bullets, though she would probably give him hell for that later, but at Cole, as she now knew that he was somehow involved, even after everything Walsh had done for him. Casey swore to herself that she would make them all pay for what had been done to her partner, no matter what.


	14. Chapter 14

Unkindest Cut of All

Chapter Fourteen

The ambulance finally arrived a few minutes after Walsh fell unconscious and as it pulled up, the paramedics rushed out and began to work on the detective in hopes of stabilizing him as quickly as possible, while both Casey and Eddie stepped back in order to allow them to do their job. Several bystanders walked out from their apartments to find out what was happening and stared like vultures. Casey found it unnerving and was angry at how inconsiderate they were being.

Casey felt like a volcano that was about to erupt as she kept her eyes on her partner while the medics placed an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth, began injecting IVs into his arms in order to pump the much needed fluids into his system, and began to wrap bandages over his wounds. However, as they worked, the heart monitor suddenly began to beep wildly, then flat lined, alerting everyone that Walsh's heart had stopped.

Casey started to rush forward, but Eddie moved in and pulled her back as the paramedics began to resuscitate her partner using a defibrillator. His body jerked as they lay the paddles on his chest to try to restart his heart. After the third shock, the medics were about to give up, until Casey suddenly pulled out of Alvarez's arms, rushed forward and placed her hands gently on both sides of Walsh's face, and shouted at the medics to keep going.

"I'm sorry, but there's nothing more we can do," one of them said sadly. "I'm afraid he's gone."

"No!" Casey shouted angrily. "No, you can't stop! Do it again! Now!"

One of the other medics nodded and moved to place the paddles on her partner's chest once again and as the electricity shocked his heart for a final time, the monitor began to beep slowly, indicating that Walsh wasn't giving up yet. Casey couldn't help it as she bent down low and kissed his forehead, then whispered something in his ear that no one around them could hear. She remained where she knelt as the paramedics continued to work on him, until they finally stood and carefully pulled him up off the ground to lay him on the gurney, then loaded him into the ambulance.

Casey wanted to ride in the ambulance with her partner, but there wasn't enough room and she didn't want to be in the way, so she watched as the vehicle pulled away and then began to walk toward her car, followed closely by Alvarez, until they were both interrupted by someone from behind them, as he called out to them.

They turned to see a young man wearing baggy clothes, a chain that ran from a belt loop and down to one of his pants pockets, and a sideways baseball cap, as he quickly asked, "Are you Detective Shraeger?"

Casey stared at him until she finally answered, "Yes, who are you?"

"My name's Kyle," the kid said. "I came here with your partner. I was unfortunately one of the guys, who attacked him yesterday morning and brought him to the shipyard, where he was held in a container until tonight. He asked me to…"

"You helped him to escape," she replied as she could see the remorse on his face. "Why would you do that? What happened?"

Kyle responded, "Someone I thought was my friend and I went to the shipyard to look for his sister, as she never called him after we attacked Detective Walsh."

Casey asked, "Is your friend's sister, Lisa Jensen?"

"Yes, or at least she was," Kyle answered sadly. "Her boyfriend killed her to keep her from talking to the police; to you. I didn't like her much, but she didn't deserve to die like that."

"I knew he was the bigger threat," Casey said as she looked over at Eddie and then turned back to Kyle. "The man, who was shooting at us earlier, was that him?"

The gang member looked toward where the shootout happened and replied, "I'm not sure if that was him, as I didn't see him very well, but on our way here, Detective Walsh told me that he needed to find you to warn you that you were in danger. I don't know why. We were on our way to the police station, but he asked me to stop when he saw the lights on in that diner. When he saw your shooter walk by the two of you, he somehow rushed forward and saved you."

Eddie responded, "I can't believe Jason risked his life like that; for me."

"Walsh did it because it was his duty as a cop, but most importantly, he did it because we're his friends," Casey answered as she once again looked over at Eddie. "He would have done it for any one of us."

"Tommy won't stop trying to kill you and your partner, Detective," Kyle said as he quickly wrote down a number on a scrap of paper from his pocket. "I suggest you get to the hospital to protect him before he tries again. Walsh had a chance to kill me when he escaped from the container, but he didn't. If you need anything, give me a call. I'm sorry."

Casey watched him as he walked away and quickly called out, "Thank you!"

Afterwards, she walked back toward her car, but was once again interrupted when Eddie stopped her by forcing her around to face him as he asked, "What were you and Jason talking about before the ambulance arrived?"

"It was nothing," she responded as she looked at him in annoyance. "It isn't important."

"Casey, he struggled to get whatever is was out before he fell unconscious," Eddie replied. "For all he knew, he was going to die and the last few words he said to you were something about Detective Cole and some kind of an apology for Beaumont. Now, tell me what's going on and what it was you figured out in the diner before all of this happened."

"I can't tell you what's going on right now, Alvarez," she answered firmly. "There's something big going on here and I can't risk saying anything before I know all the facts. I won't risk letting the people, who are responsible for what they did to my partner, get away with this. Everything has to be handled very sensitively."

Eddie looked at her in frustration and said, "If you hadn't noticed, Casey. I don't have a partner like the rest of you do and if there was any one of you I would fight to protect, it would be the one guy, who actually cared enough to become my friend. That's your partner. You have my word that I will not tell anyone or do anything about this without your consent. I need to know what's going on here."

Casey stared at him as she tried to figure out if he really could be trusted, then sadly looked down on the ground where the sidewalk was now stained with Walsh's blood, and finally gave in as she responded, "All that I can tell you for now, is that we know Cole is somehow involved in this. He's got a dirty past and he's afraid of the rest of us finding out the truth. Walsh figured it out back when Frank Lutz tried to kill him here and Beaumont got shot instead, but he didn't say anything because he wanted to believe that Cole was trying to change and was a good man, but he's got too much blood on his hands now. We need to finish what Walsh started. Do you understand how important it is that you don't say anything, especially to Beaumont?"

Eddie nodded and replied, "You have my word, Casey. Now, what can I do?"


	15. Chapter 15

Unkindest Cut of All

Chapter Fifteen

When he got home after leaving work and going out for a beer with his partner so that she could talk to him about her relationship with Walsh, as well as express her concerns about his wellbeing, Cole found his fiancée in bed asleep, just as he expected her to be at a little after four o'clock. A part of him wanted to get in beside her and just fall asleep, as he was exhausted, but his own fear about allowing his brother to get rid of Walsh was wearing on his conscience. The part of him that had found God was torturing his other half. So instead, Cole walked out into the living room of his apartment and turned on the television quietly in hopes that the distraction would quiet his mind.

He knew that he should turn himself in and take whatever punishment he'd have coming to him in order to save Walsh, a man, who didn't turn him in because he believed in him, but he wasn't the only one going to pay for his actions if he did. Cole not only worried about what would happen to his brother, but he also feared how this would affect his relationship with his fiancée, as well as his relationship with his partner. He would lose them both and he would lose his badge. Could he really live with being responsible for the death of another cop and friend?

After a few minutes of staring at the TV, his phone suddenly began to ring and as he looked at the caller ID, he saw that it was Tommy, then quickly answered it as he asked, "Tommy, what's going on? Do you not know what time it is?"

His brother shouted, "_That frickin' detective escaped! He's going to destroy us both if you don't get down here now and help me finish him off before he talks!_"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down!" Cole cried out fearfully as he quickly got up from his spot on the couch, grabbed his jacket from where he dropped it, pulled it on, and left his apartment once again. "What happened? He's sick and badly hurt from a knife wound in his stomach. How on earth did you let him escape? I thought you had a handle on this!"

"_I don't know how he escaped, all right!_" Tommy angrily responded. "_But he did and somehow made it back to his diner, where I was about to kill his partner, but…_"

Cole suddenly interrupted, "Wait a minute, you tried to do what? Are you insane? You're going too far. I was willing to go along with helping you cover up Walsh's death, as long as you were willing to do all of the hard work, but I can't be responsible for any more. Letting Walsh down alone is killing me. You can't kill his partner too."

His brother replied, "_We don't have a choice anymore, Henry. He managed to save her, but I know he took a bullet somewhere and that he's been rushed to the hospital. What I don't know is if he managed to tell her anything about me, or that you're involved. Either way, we have to get rid of them both. Are you ready to lose everything? Because that is what's going to happen, just like I've told you a dozen times now. I suggest you man up and do what is necessary, or you'll no longer have to worry about just your frickin' conscience. You'll have to worry about a needle being injected into your arm or a shank to your gut. The inmates don't like cops, who get put on the inside._"

"All right, all right!" Cole shouted angrily, caving in under the pressure. "Where are you right now?"

"_I'm getting myself patched up right now by one of those sleazy doctors without an actual medical degree in some place I heard about while I was inside,_" Tommy answered, as he suddenly shouted out at someone wherever he was at. "_Detective Walsh frickin' shot me when I was about to kill his partner! It's nothing, but it still hurts like hell. Get over here now. I'll text you the address._"

Tommy hung up on him by the time Cole reached his car and started the ignition. Cole put down the phone and just sat there as he wondered how this whole thing managed to spin out of control so fast. After a few minutes, he suddenly slammed his fist up against the steering wheel and began to drive toward the address that his brother had sent him on his phone. It was then that his phone began to ring once again and he quickly answered it as soon as he saw that it was his partner, no doubt calling him about Walsh being found and rushed to the hospital.

He quickly asked, "Allison, is everything okay?"

She sounded afraid as she responded, "_Henry, I need you to pick me up and take me to the hospital right away. Walsh has been found, but Shraeger told Sergeant Brown that he's hurt really bad. I don't know any more than that, but he wants us all there as soon as we can._"

"Ah… I'm on my way," Cole replied, then hung up.

As soon as he did, Cole realized that he'd have to call his brother back and explain to him that he's been given orders to head to the hospital, so he'd have to find his own way back to the hotel where he's been staying. As they spoke again, Cole told Tommy he'd try to find out all he could about Walsh's escape and if he had managed to tell his partner anything important. Then, he hung up and drove toward Beaumont's apartment to pick her up, as her car was currently in the shop after being rear ended the other day by a group of punks out for a joyride in a stolen car. As he drove, Cole worked to push down the knot that had formed in the pit of his stomach and then softly prayed for forgiveness for everything that he had done so far and was about to do until his partner stepped into his car. 


	16. Chapter 16

Unkindest Cut of All

Chapter Sixteen

Eddie rode with Casey as she drove to the hospital. She was silent most of the way there and Eddie allowed her to be as he knew she was trying to figure out what to do about Cole, as well as who it was she could trust. Truthfully, Casey wouldn't have chosen to tell Alvarez at all, as he was too much of a stickler for the rules and protocols, but she knew she didn't have a choice, but to trust him, as he was there when her partner had mentioned Cole's involvement. Thankfully, Alvarez was slowly getting better at becoming a part of the cop family, thanks to Walsh taking his time to befriend the odd man out.

As she pulled into the hospital's parking lot and parked the car, Casey remained silent as she just sat there and stared ahead at the emergency room's doors, but she was interrupted after a minute as Eddie spoke up as he turned to her and asked, "Are you all right?"

She blinked and then turned to look at the detective as she answered, "Not really. I mean, back when Beaumont was shot and I found Walsh just sitting in his car as he was afraid to go in, I didn't understand how he felt. In fact, I teased him for it, but now I know how it feels to worry about losing someone that you care about. I should have been more sympathetic."

"I'm sure he knew that you were," Eddie replied. "Do you know what you're going to tell Sergeant yet?"

"No, I haven't," Casey responded in frustration as they both finally got out of the car and headed inside. "I know I can trust him, but he'll be under obligation to report Cole to whoever is above him. We can try to invoke a 1313, but in reverse, however that will only give us a six hour window to prove Cole's involvement and that just isn't enough. There's too much going on here and besides, I have no idea how deep Cole is into this. When we were inside the diner, you said that the guy on the surveillance video looked familiar to you. As I looked closer, I saw that he looked an awful lot like Cole and Walsh struggled to tell us that our shooter's his brother. It's possible that just like Frank Lutz did, Cole's brother dragged him into helping him out in small ways, such as getting rid of any evidence that points to him, but it's also possible that Cole's involved much deeper than that too, all though he doesn't strike me as the type to be able to willingly let a friend die."

Alvarez nodded as he listened to Casey and then finally spoke up saying, "You're right. There's too much to figure out within just six hours. However, you need to tell Sergeant anyway. He'll do whatever he can so that we can do what we need to do."

As they walked up to the nurses' station near the operating rooms, Casey turned to one of the women sitting down and said, "Excuse me, we're here for Detective Jason Walsh, who was brought in here a few minutes ago with a stab wound to the abdomen, as well as a gunshot wound to his shoulder. I'm his partner, Detective Shraeger, and this is Detective Alvarez. We need you to keep us informed on his progress, as well as when he's out of surgery."

"Yes, Ma'am," one of the nurses answered. "The doctors are working on him in operating room two. We'll let them know that you're here if you'd like to have a seat in the waiting area."

"I need to have a clear view of the room in order to make sure that no one, who doesn't belong, goes in or out," Casey replied as she walked over to the hard plastic chairs, picked one up, and moved it against a wall where she could see the room clearly. "There have already been too many attempts on his life. I won't let it happen again."

The nurses just nodded as Eddie followed suit with the younger detective, then turned away and began to do whatever they were doing before the detectives arrived. Once she got settled, Casey pulled out her cell phone and stared at the screen, knowing that she had to call her boss, but was still unsure of what to say to him. As Eddie had said, she needed to tell him everything, but how does she do that when she doesn't know hardly anything?

Sergeant Brown arrived at the hospital, a little after four o'clock, as soon as he could after receiving the call from his partner that Walsh had been found, and as soon as he saw his detectives, he quickly walked over to them and asked, "How is he?"

Both Casey and Eddie stood and pulled their boss aside where no one was around to listen in on their conversation, then responded, "We're not sure yet, as the doctors haven't come out to tell us anything, but based on how he looked back at his diner, he's in bad shape, Sir; really bad shape."

"Talk to me," Sergeant ordered. "What the hell happened?"

"I'm still trying to piece together the puzzle, Sir, but when I left work after you sent us all home, I drove to Walsh's diner in order to try to come up with something that would help us to find him," Casey answered. "Alvarez figured I would be there and wanted to help. We watched the surveillance footage again because I had a feeling there was something I was missing and I realized that Walsh was paying more attention to the guy than he was to the woman. Whatever the guy was saying, it made Walsh nervous. A thought eventually came to me and as we walked out, Walsh suddenly appeared out of nowhere and pushed us down as someone began to fire at us. We all fired back and as the guy ran away, we saw that he was hit somewhere on the arm. Once the threat was over, Walsh collapsed and we found that he had taken a bullet as well, to his right shoulder, very close to his neck. As we expected, he had a knife wound in his stomach as well and he was freezing cold. Wherever he was held, it let the cold in. His heart stopped, Sir. The paramedics were about to give up on him until I ordered them to keep trying. It's a miracle Walsh is still alive."

Walsh has always been one hell of a fighter and a hell of a cop," Brown replied. "It's the main reason why I hired him to join our precinct. Do you any idea what happened to him?"

Casey looked at Eddie with concern until he quickly spoke up saying, "As the ambulance pulled away, we were heading to Casey's car, when we were stopped by a kid, who admitted that he belonged to the gang that kidnapped Walsh, but we didn't have him arrested because Walsh gave him a slide when he escaped from what the kid said was a container at a shipyard. He said that Walsh had the chance to shoot him, but didn't and so the kid helped him to escape and get to us. He went on to tell us that Walsh said he needed to find Shraeger to warn her that our shooter was trying to kill her."

"Who would want to kill both Walsh and you and why kidnap him first?" their boss asked no one in particular. "Do you have any idea, who the shooter is or, who set this whole thing up? I doubt it was the gang's idea."

"Kyle, the kid, said that his friend's sister, Lisa Jensen, was the one that set up the kidnapping," Casey responded.

Sergeant quickly asked, "Lisa Jensen, you mean the woman in the surveillance video, just as we suspected because of the earrings we found?"

Casey nodded and continued, "Kyle said that he and her brother went to the shipyard to look for her, as she hadn't spoken to them since the kidnapping and said that they found her body inside the same container where Walsh was being held. He said that her boyfriend, the guy in the surveillance video, killed her in order to keep her from ratting him out to us. Just as I suspected, he's the real threat and even though we couldn't see our shooter's face, as it was mostly covered up, I'll bet that it was him."

"What I don't understand is, how does a guy like this, not have a record?" Eddie asked. "I mean, someone doesn't just one day decide to start their life of crime by trying to kill three cops."

"I think I may know the answer to that," Casey answered nervously as she turned to look at their boss with concern etched on her face. "Sir, there's more, but what we're about to say is difficult and is the reason why I asked you to come here as soon as possible and alone. You can't tell the others yet, what I'm about to tell you, especially Beaumont."

Sergeant Brown looked at her and asked, "What's going on, Shraeger?"

Casey looked over at Alvarez, who only nodded, then back at their boss, and replied, "You know how several months ago we finally discovered that Frank Lutz was the man responsible for having Kowalski killed and then tried to kill Walsh because he was afraid that Walsh had found out about him?"

"Yes, of course I remember," Brown responded. "Are these two cases related?"

"I'm afraid so, Sir," Casey answered. "But I'm afraid there was more to that case than what Walsh and I told you and mentioned in our reports. Lutz had a friend years ago, who helped him to commit minor crimes and a few bigger ones, such as stealing an armored car. However, he moved here to New York City and changed his name in order to start a new life, but Lutz found him again a few days before he had Kowalski killed and blackmailed his friend into helping him to cover his role in the murder up. Then, later Lutz found out that Walsh had discovered his friend's past and tried to kill him too."

Sergeant Brown quickly asked, "What does all this have to do with Walsh being here in the hospital today?"

Casey replied, "Sir, Lutz's friend's name was once Navan Granger. Today, we know him as Detective Henry Cole."

"Cole, you can't be serious?" Brown said skeptically. "Cole's a good cop, who's found God."

"Walsh has the proof of Cole's past somewhere, Sir," she responded. "Believe me, when Walsh shared what little he did with me at the time, I was skeptical too, but after Cole shot Lutz, Walsh confronted him and Cole didn't deny it. Tonight, after Walsh saved me and Alvarez, he fought to tell us that Cole was somehow involved and that our shooter is his brother before he fell unconscious. We don't know how Cole's brother came to be involved, why he's trying to kill Walsh and me, and we don't know how deeply Cole is involved. We also have no proof, except for what little Walsh has. If we're not careful, Cole could get away with it."

Eddie spoke up again saying, "I can't believe this."

Sergeant looked at Alvarez, then turned back to Casey and said angrily, "You should have come to me with this a long time ago, Shraeger; you and Walsh."

"Sir, I back Walsh up on his decision completely because he was trying to protect and save someone he believed was a good man," Casey answered firmly. "He did what he thought in his heart was right, as any good cop should do, but it turns out he was wrong and he's now paying the price for it."

"For what it's worth, I understand, but I have no idea how we're going to prove all this," the sergeant replied. "I am obligated to report Cole to Internal Affairs."

Alvarez asked, "But how can you do that without some kind of proof that gives them a reason to suspect him of what we're accusing him of? Who knows where Walsh hid what we need."

Just then, Beaumont came into view and rushed toward them once she saw them, followed by Cole, who walked in much more slowly, but before they reached them, Casey quickly turned to the sergeant and whispered, "You can't tell Beaumont any of this, or the others. She's too close to Cole."

"Believe me, I know this better than you, Detective," Brown responded.


	17. Chapter 17

Unkindest Cut of All

Chapter Seventeen

As soon as she reached Casey, Alvarez, and their sergeant, Beaumont quickly asked, "How is he? Is he in surgery?"

Casey turned away from them and began to pace back and forth, as Eddie responded, "He is in surgery right now and he's not looking good."

"What happened?" Cole asked as his hid his shaking hands in his coat's pockets.

"He's got a knife wound in his abdomen and a bullet wound in his shoulder," Casey growled angrily as she glared at the man responsible for what happened to Walsh. "His heart stopped for over two minutes because he risked everything to save me and Alvarez. If it weren't for him, we would both be dead!"

Cole wondered if she knew of his involvement as he stuttered fearfully, "I… I'm sor… sorry."

As if he didn't know anything about what Casey had just told him, Sergeant Brown replied, "Relax, Cole. She's just worried about her partner, as you would be too if it was yours."

"He's right," Casey quickly said as she fought to push down her anger toward him. "I'm sorry. It's just that I've never lost a partner before. I don't want Walsh to be my first."

"He won't be," Beaumont answered. "He's strong."

Both Banks and Delahoy arrived just as Casey nodded and then continued her pacing as she went on to explain what happened outside his diner and what the gang member had said happened since he and his friends had kidnapped Walsh, until he helped him to escape. Then, she pulled out the paper the kid had given her with his number on it and handed it to Alvarez.

Casey omitted anything that would make Cole suspect she knew about his involvement. However, she did mention that she believed that their shooter was the same man on the surveillance tape thanks to the kid coming forward, but that they had yet to discover, who the man was, which was true. Casey, Eddie, and their sergeant could all see that Cole was becoming more nervous as she spoke.

It was then that Casey thought that maybe Cole would eventually do the right thing and come forward on his own as long as she was careful with what she said and did. Walsh had told her back when she had become emotionally involved in a case once, or as he called her, an E.I.D., that she just needed to take her time and play it safe in order to get what she wanted from the criminal. He had assured her that she knew that man better than anyone and Casey knew Cole too.

Once she finished, Sergeant Brown spoke up as he said, "Beaumont, Cole, Delahoy, and Banks, you're going to go back to the station and work to find out, who each of the gang members are that were involved in Walsh's kidnapping. Alvarez, you and I are going to work on finding out, who our shooter is and why he decided to come after two of our detectives. And Shraeger, I need you to stay here with your partner to protect him in case he tries again. I will send a security detail up to help. Keep us informed of his condition. Is that understood?"

Beaumont objected as she responded, "Sir, I'd like to stay here until I know that Walsh is out of the woods, along with Shraeger."

"I know how much he means to you, Allison, but I really need you working with the others," the sergeant replied with compassion in his voice. "It's going to take a lot of work to bring them down and you have more knowledge of the gang life than any of the others, all right?"

"Yes, Sir," she answered in frustration and then turned to walk out, followed by Cole, Banks, and Delahoy.

As they were far enough ahead, Brown turned to both Casey and Alvarez, who had stayed behind as well, and said quietly, "We've only got twenty-four hours and when that's done, I'll have no choice, but to go to IA with whatever information we've gathered at that point, which means we'll have to tell Beaumont that we suspect her partner is dirty and we all know that will not go over well. Alvarez and I will do what we can from our end and you do whatever you can from yours. Find that information your partner has already gathered on Cole being someone else. We don't have enough time to wait for a request for it again to be approved. And do keep us informed on how he's doing."

Casey quickly responded, "I will. Thank you, Sir. You know, for trusting Walsh and me, with this."

"Neither of you would be here if I didn't," their boss replied before he finally turned and then walked away, as Casey let out a sigh of relief.

"Good luck and be careful," Alvarez said kindly as he gently patted her arm for comfort.

Casey smiled and then he turned and began to follow after the sergeant until Casey quickly shouted, "Eddie! Thank you!"

He nodded as he smiled back at her and then continued to walk away. Casey never expected that she would come to consider the man, who had a tendency to speak about himself in third person, a friend, but thanks to what Jason had done for him, when she hadn't taken the time to befriend him herself, she had suddenly come to trust him more than any of the others. Underneath his oddities, Alvarez was a good man. Besides, as Walsh had said some time ago, they were all freaks to some degree.

Every once and a while, one of the hospital's nurses would come out to assure Casey that her partner was still holding on, as she continued to wait impatiently, but they refused to give her any information regarding his condition. It wasn't until over six hours after Walsh had been brought in that a doctor finally came out to speak with her.

The man solemnly spoke up saying, "One of the nurses' has informed me that you'd prefer it if we don't sugarcoat the news, so I want you to know that your partner's still fighting, but I'm afraid that his condition is grave and to be honest, I'm not sure if he's going to pull through. He's lost a lot of blood, but we're working to give him the transfusions needed to help sustain him until his heart can resupply it on its own. Thankfully, neither the bullet wound near his neck nor the knife wound in his abdomen hit anything vital. However, the knife wound has become severely infected, causing his temperature to spike to just over one hundred and six degrees. If it gets any higher, well, the truth is it can't get much higher because if it does, he'll die. His wrist is badly broken and bleeding from what I'm guessing was the restraint his kidnappers used to keep him where he was held. He must have fought against it in hopes of freeing himself."

"What about the cold?" Casey asked fearfully. "When I held him in my arms, he was shivering violently and his skin was freezing to the touch. He wasn't wearing a jacket for, what I am assuming was since early yesterday morning when he was attacked and we believe he was held prisoner in a shipping container at a shipyard, down by the docks."

"I'm afraid he also has a severe case of hypothermia, which is another reason for his temperature is so high," he answered. "We're doing everything we can to warm his body up. We've given him the proper medication need to help him and for now, he's on a ventilator, as his body is having a hard time coping on its own with the pain, the fever, and the hypothermia all at once. It doesn't look good, Detective, but I promise you that we'll continue to do all we can for him. I'm so sorry."

Casey put her hands up to her face as she worked to wipe away the tears that had begun to fall from her eyes while she listened to the doctor talk about her partner's chances of survival, then when he was finally finished she asked, "Can I see him?"

The man responded, "The nurses are moving him into his room right now as we speak. Once we get him settled in, you'll be free to stay with him for as long as you need to."

"Unfortunately, I can't stay with him for long, as I've got to find out, who did this to him, but our boss is going to be sending up a security detail to keep watch outside of his room to make sure that he is protected at all times," Casey replied firmly. "Only a select few of you will be allowed to go into his room to take care of him, as well as myself and the few other detectives that were here earlier. I will give you their pictures so you all will know who and I will expect the same of your staff. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Ma'am," he answered. "I will let you know when you can go in."

As the doctor walked away, Casey finished wiping away the tears out of her eyes and then pulled out her cell phone to call the sergeant. She went over with him everything the doctor had told her and asked him if he had had any luck in figuring out, who their shooter actually was. Unfortunately, he and Alvarez had no luck so far, as they had already tried running him through the database the night before and believed that he didn't have a record, as they had no clue that Cole had gotten rid of it.

By the time she hung up, a nurse had come out to inform her that she was free to visit her partner whenever she wished. Casey moved slowly along the corridors slowly, as she was afraid to see Walsh hooked up to numerous machines, but she was mostly afraid to see him so lifeless. Eventually, she walked into his room and stood at his bedside as she took his hand in hers. Now, it was finally her time to be there for him.


	18. Chapter 18

Unkindest Cut of All

Chapter Eighteen

Meanwhile…

It was almost six o'clock in the morning when the detectives and the sergeant arrived back at the station. None of them had gotten the chance to sleep since they had only left from the day before, just a few hours ago, so they were all exhausted as they stood in line at the precinct's coffee maker, hoping that it would help to wake them up.

As Alvarez headed toward the sergeant's office, Beaumont quickly walked up to him and asked, "Hey, did Jason say anything at all that could help us to find these kids faster, or anything about why your shooter would want to kill him and Shraeger? Did he say anything else?"

Eddie shook his head and then answered, "He could hardly breathe. The only thing he could make out was for us to be careful. If you want to know if he said anything about you, he didn't, but I can see that he cares for you a great deal. I'm sure he'd want you to know that."

"Since when did you become the sentimental and caring type?" Beaumont asked as he was about to turn away.

"Since Jason helped me to see how important it was if I ever wanted to belong here," Eddie replied. "Oh, if you want some help with finding his kidnappers, I can give the kid, who came up to us at the crime scene earlier to see if he'd be willing to give his friends up, but only if you promise to let him off the hook for his role in Walsh's escape. He told us that Walsh said he owed him. We need to make sure that that happens."

Allison looked at him and smiled as she said, "I have to say, I'm surprised at you, Alvarez. For a cop, who's the biggest stickler for the rules as I've ever known, you really are going all out on this one. I'm proud of you. Thanks."

Alvarez nodded and then walked over to his desk to make the call to Kyle, who picked up after the third ring and responded, "_Hello, who's this?_"

"Kyle, this is Detective Alvarez with the Second Precinct," Eddie answered. "I was at the diner earlier with Walsh's partner, Detective Shraeger. Do you remember me?"

"_Yeah, I remember,_" Kyle replied. "_I know I said you could call, but I wasn't expecting it to be so soon, nor was I expecting it to be you._"

Eddie responded, "I wasn't expecting to be the one to call you either, but Shraeger handed me your number, as she's with Detective Walsh at the hospital. I'm calling because we need your help. A few of the other detectives here are looking for the rest of the gang members you helped to kidnap our friend. I promise you, that no charges will be filed against you for your cooperation and assistance in helping Walsh to escape, but we do need to make the others pay for their crimes. They did beat up and stab an officer of the law, then left him to die inside a shipping container."

He could hear Kyle sigh on the other end and then he spoke up saying, "_I know, Detective Alvarez. Can you come and meet me in an hour at my apartment in Queens? I'll text you the address if you give me your number._"

"I'm afraid I can't be the one to meet you, as I've got something much more important to deal with right now, but I will send out a few of the others," Eddie answered as he looked over at the detectives, who had been assigned to bring the gang in. "I promise, you can trust them, but I need you to do me another favor when you talk to them. I need you to lie to them when they ask you if you know the name of our shooter. Tell them you don't know anything about him personally."

"_I don't understand,_" the kid said in confusion. "_Why would you want me to lie to them if you say that you trust them?_"

Alvarez replied, "I'm afraid I can't say why right now, but will you do this for me? Actually, will you do this for Detective Walsh? His life may depend on it."

Kyle responded, "_You have my word, Detective Alvarez._"

"So, what did he say?" Beaumont asked as she walked over to his desk once she noticed him hanging up his phone. "Is he coming in?"

"He would actually prefer it if you and the others came to meet him at an address that he'll send me in just a few minutes," Eddie answered. "Be sure to let the others know not to arrest him, all right?"

Beaumont nodded as she walked away to talk to Cole, Delahoy, and Banks, while Alvarez stood up from his desk and walked into Sergeant Brown's office, who spoke up as he asked, "What was that all about?"

Eddie replied, "I just spoke with the kid in the gang, who helped out Walsh. They're all going to be leaving shortly to go and meet up with him. I think he's willing to give his friends up."

"Huh, Walsh certainly made an impression on him," Sergeant responded. "I never thought I'd live to see the day when a gang member was so helpful and loyal to a cop."

"This job does have its way of surprising us all the time," Eddie said. "Even when we think we've seen it all. So, what is our first move in dealing with Cole?"

Sergeant Brown looked up at Alvarez as he then took a seat and answered, "It's basically a waiting game. We already know our shooter doesn't have a record and we'll have to wait until the others are done with talking to our friendly lead, but in the meantime, I suppose we can go and speak with Lisa Jensen's family and friends. Maybe they'll know something about this, Tommy, whoever he is."

Eddie picked up the woman's rap sheet from his boss' desk and replied, "We've got an address for her mother's place in the Bronx. Looks like Lisa lived there up until a few months ago. Maybe she got caught up with her brother's gang friends. It's a good a place as any to start. Do you want to drive?"

"Yes, I do," Sergeant responded. "I've seen you drive. You're like a grandma behind the wheel."

"I'm cautious," Eddie said as he followed the older man out and left the precinct.

About three and a half hours later, they both came back to the station and found that the other detectives were still out. Unfortunately, after talking with Lisa Jensen's mother, sister, and two friends that she grew up with in the neighborhood, they had no more information on Tommy than what they had started out with. Her family never met him, nor did they even know that Lisa was seeing anyone, as she hadn't spoken with them in months. Lisa's friends had met him once or twice, but they didn't know anything about him, not even his last name, though Eddie and the sergeant suspected that it was probably Granger, as he was Cole's brother. Finally, after apologizing to them for their loss, both the sergeant and Alvarez left.

Sergeant Brown spoke up first as they got back saying, "I hate waiting. Alvarez, call Shraeger at the hospital and check up with her about Walsh's condition. See if she knows anything yet. I'm going to make a few calls; see if I can't get them to speed up the process a little if Casey can't get us that information yet. Then, I want you to go down to the evidence room and pull out all of the case files on Frank Lutz's murder of Kowalski and attempt to kill Walsh. Maybe we can learn something about Cole and Tommy from him."

Eddie nodded as he answered, "Yes, Sir."

Back at the hospital…

As Casey stood at her partner's bedside and took his hand in her own, she couldn't help, but stare down at him in surprise. She had seen sick and injured people in the hospital many times, including Beaumont back when she had visited her after she had been shot, and even though she knew how bad Walsh's condition was, it was still terrifying to see him so still, with a ventilator tube running under his nose, to help in keeping him stabilized, along with several other tubes sticking out from his body.

"You know, it was a really stupid thing for you to do when you pushed both Alvarez and me down and stepped in front of those bullets to protect us," Casey began to say softly, as most people did to those they cared about when they were in the hospital. "Especially since you were already hurt pretty bad. You're lucky that only one of his bullets hit you. Not that I'm not grateful; I am, but you really shouldn't have done it. I would try to cry again in order to convince you to snap out of it if you were anyone else, but we both know that you can see right through that, so I won't. But all joking aside, I really need you to wake up. I know that I can come to you with anything and you'll know exactly what to say. You're the only one, who understands me and that's extremely rare. You have no idea how much that means to me, since I'm the crazy, unconventional rich girl no one else can stand being around. You're the best partner I've ever had, even with all your wisecracks, and you're my best friend."

As she paused a moment, hoping that there would be some kind of indication that he had heard her, the machines surrounding him just continued to beep and he remained asleep, so she finished by saying, "I'm afraid I have to go in order to find where you've hidden that file on Cole that proves he's really Navan Granger, but you will be well protected and I promise, I'll be back. We'll make them all pay for what they've done. Please, don't give up on me."


	19. Chapter 19

Unkindest Cut of All

Chapter Nineteen

Detectives Beaumont, Cole, Banks, and Delahoy all arrived an hour later at the address, which Kyle had sent to Alvarez. Cole was the one to step up to the door of the apartment and knocked gently as he did. Beaumont stood beside him and the others stood behind. When the door finally opened just as Cole was about to knock again, an older woman appeared in the crack and then quickly closed the door again in order to remove the chain that kept it locked.

"Hello, Ma'am," Beaumont spoke up softly. "We're detectives with the NYPD. We're here to speak with Kyle? He invited us over. I promise, we just want to talk. He's not in any trouble."

"I know," the woman replied. "My son told me you'd be coming soon. Follow me please."

As they all walked further into the apartment, they found Kyle sitting down at the dining room table with an ice pack over his eye, which when he slowly lowered as they walked in, they could see was bruised and swollen shut. It appeared that the young man had been in some kind of fight recently.

Kyle quickly spoke up as he said, "Come in and take a seat, Detectives. Detective Alvarez said that he'd be sending you instead because he had something more important to do, but he said that I can trust you. That's good enough for me."

As Beaumont took a seat in the chair beside him at the table, she asked, "Kyle, I'm Detective Beaumont and this is my partner, Cole, and these are Delahoy and Banks. Did someone do this to you after you spoke with Alvarez and Shraeger at the scene earlier?"

"Yes, but it doesn't matter," Kyle answered. "I'm fine. I went back to the shipyard where Detective Walsh had left my friend locked up inside the container we had locked him up in before so that he could escape."

"Sounds like your friend deserved to be locked up and left there," Delahoy responded snidely.

Kyle nodded as he replied, "He did. My friend was trying to kill Detective Walsh and wouldn't listen to reason when he tried to give him a way out. Thankfully, the detective somehow had the strength to overpower him. I've been in this gang for a long time thanks to my brother dragging me in, but ever since he was killed because of the life, I've been looking for a way out; for my mom. Walsh gave me that and I know that by helping you bring them down for what they've done, I'll finally be free. Ask me whatever questions you want."

Banks took a seat in another chair beside the kid and asked, "All right, why did you and your punk friends kidnap Detective Walsh in the first place?"

"You know, you can remove your vest, Detective," Kyle said as he looked at the man oddly. "Bullets aren't going to fly in here."

"Thanks, but I'd rather leave it on," Banks answered as he looked around for any sign of deceit.

Delahoy spoke up saying, "My partner's a little paranoid. You'll have to excuse him. Now, answer his question. Why did you kidnap Walsh yesterday morning?"

Kyle responded, "Because we were hired to by our leader's sister. I don't really know why, except that she was trying to get back into her boyfriend's good graces so to speak."

"Your leader, Lisa Jensen's kid brother, is he the friend you went back to help out of the shipping container?" Beaumont asked. "We know about her involvement and why she did what she did thanks to what you told our detectives earlier. What happened after you helped Detective Walsh escape?"

"Yes, Lisa's brother is the guy I went back for," Kyle replied. "I couldn't just leave him there with his sister's body. Walsh told me to go back and set him free once I got him to where he needed to go. After I did and helped him take Lisa's body back to the spot where most of us hang out, as most of us were homeless, he beat me pretty bad because he was angry that I didn't fight against Walsh harder and try to kill him. I came back home afterwards, where I've been waiting for you."

Cole softly asked, "Do you know anything about Lisa Jensen's boyfriend or why he killed her?"

Kyle looked at the younger detective skeptically as he lied, "I'm afraid I don't know anything about him, except that he was a bit of a jerk. I didn't like to be around him and he didn't hang around us much."

"Is there anything that you know that could help us to find him?" Delahoy asked as he continued standing up behind them at the table like Cole, none of them catching the look of relief that appeared on Cole's face. "Did either he or Lisa talk about somewhere they often went together?"

"Not that I know of," Kyle answered. "I'm sorry. I can't help you catch him, but I can tell you where the rest of the gang is. They aren't the same as they were back when we all became friends. A long time ago, we never would have considered agreeing to kidnap someone, let alone a cop, for any price. Unfortunately, living on the streets has a way of hardening people. I'm lucky that I have my mom, who never gave up on me."

The woman, who answered the door spoke up again as she responded, "I always knew that of my two children, you would be the one to come back to me."

Kyle looked at Beaumont and solemnly asked, "How is Detective Walsh? Will he be all right?"

"I'm afraid we're not sure yet," she replied after she looked down sadly at his watch, which she still wore on her arm. "His partner is with him at the hospital now, but so far, the doctors haven't told her anything. None of us have seen him yet, but he won't give up. He's as tough as they come. Thank you for coming forward and helping us to bring down those responsible."

"We should get going and take them all down before it gets any later," Cole said swiftly as he gently placed his hand on his partner's shoulder. "They'll all scatter soon to wherever they go and it will be much more difficult for us to round them up."

Banks stood from the chair and followed out after his partner as he whined, "I guess I'm going to have to prepare for a chase. No doubt these kids are going to start running."

Delahoy called back as he continued walking forward, "And shooting! You better prepare yourself for dodging bullets!"

"Just send the address of the place they hang out to my phone," Beaumont said before she walked out after Cole and the others. "Thank you again, Kyle."

"Just thank Detective Walsh for me when he wakes up," Kyle answered. "None of this would be happening if he didn't care about protecting a thug. Anyone else would have shot both me and our leader to escape."

Beaumont nodded and then walked out the door as she responded, "I will. Take care of yourselves and stay out of trouble; for your mother's sake."

After they were gone, Kyle looked over at his mother and spoke up saying, "I'm not going anywhere again."


	20. Chapter 20

Unkindest Cut of All

Chapter Twenty

Casey headed back to Walsh's diner after she finally left the hospital. She hated to leave him, but she knew that she had to find proof of Cole's past in order to bring him down and she only had a small window to do it. Even with the evidence, it would take a lot of convincing to get IA to believe them, but without it, they wouldn't stand a chance.

When she pulled up and parked where Walsh usually did, she slowly got out and began to walk toward the diner, but stopped as she stood where she, Walsh, and Alvarez had been attacked hours ago. The crime scene tape was still up, even though the techs had already come and gone to gather the evidence, and the blood stains that would no doubt remain there for good as a reminder of this morning's tragedy were still bright red as it slowly continued to seep deep into the pavement. Casey always considered herself to be a tough girl and not afraid to do anything when it came to the job, but anyone, who says that being shot at wasn't something to be scared of, is either a fool or a liar.

After a few minutes, Casey finally pushed the fearful memories down and walked inside her partner's diner in order to begin her search for the files he had stashed away. She knew that Walsh would never have put the files inside his locker at work, as many of the cops and detectives liked to pull pranks on each other from time to time, such as the number of times they have filled up Alvarez's locker with styrofoam peanuts. So, Casey figured that the files must be at the one place he felt the most comfortable, unless he had another secret place in fear of Beaumont going through his things, which if that was the case, Casey was in big trouble.

The rookie of the precinct, truly felt like a rookie as she went through Walsh's things for over an hour, but worst of all, Casey hated doing it as she felt she was invading her partner's privacy. However, she knew he'd understand, just as she would if their roles were reversed. It was what partner's did to protect each other from ridicule should something ever happen to them. This was the first thing Walsh had taught her as he went through his previous' partner's locker in order to take away the embarrassing things that would have no doubt hurt his wife had any of the other officers seen them.

It was then that a thought suddenly came to her thanks to this memory, as well as the memory of another conversation that had come up the next day, as Casey had asked Walsh if there was anything he would want her to take and hide from the others should anything ever happen to him. He didn't answer the question until much later, but she had told him that if anything ever happened to her, she would want him to take her sex diary she had written out from the lock box, which she hid on the top shelf of her closet. Casey quickly looked up on the shelf and found that Walsh had a lock box of his own.

When she pulled it down, she found that it was locked, but on top of it was a sticky note with a message written for her saying, "_Casey, In case of a rainy day. Who knew this was a perfect place to hide what you don't want anyone else to see until the time's right. Thanks for the tip. You'll find the key hidden inside what I earned fair and square. Just be sure not to drink the milk too fast, and it'll be yours._"

Casey smiled as she set the lock box down on her partner's bed and then moved to the head as she picked up the trophy from one of the shelves that he had won in a milk drinking contest back when he was a rookie himself. The message wouldn't have made sense to anyone else, who read it should they have found the box, but it made perfect sense to her. When she removed the key from the trophy and then used it to open the box, the only thing she found inside was exactly what she was expecting there to be inside; the one thing she had been looking for; proof that Henry Cole was Navan Granger.

An hour and a half later…

Both Sergeant Brown and Detective Alvarez walked into the hospital and made their way up to Walsh's room, where Casey told them she'd be waiting for them when she called their boss after she had finished her search. The two men sadly looked down at the wounded detective and their friend as they entered, then looked over at Casey, who was sitting in a chair beside his bed.

"How is he doing?" the sergeant asked solemnly. "Are the doctors optimistic?"

"They're not, but I am," Casey answered. "He's holding on, considering all he's been through. I think if he was going to die, he would have back when his heart stopped. Besides, I gave him something to make him reconsider."

Brown smiled as he responded, "I knew you were the right partner for him. Now, did you find what we need?"

Casey pulled out a folder from inside her jacket and handed it up to their boss while she continued to sit at her partner's bedside, then replied, "It took a while, but surprisingly, I found it sooner than I expected to. I just needed to know where to look. Navan Granger and Henry Cole are the same man, Sir. You can see it from the picture. All you have to do now is connect him to Kowalski's death and now the attempt on Walsh. I don't think he was directly involved in either, but…"

"I'll be dammed, I can't believe you're right," Sergeant interrupted as he stared down at the picture and quickly scanned over his rap sheet and the rest of the information Walsh had gathered on him. "Do you have idea how we're going to connect all this for IA?"

"Walsh explained to me a little that will give us a start, but he didn't want to involve me in his problem," Casey answered as she stood. "He wanted to believe in Cole, Sir. He didn't want to ruin his career if he really was a changed man."

It was then that Beaumont suddenly spoke up after listening outside the door to most of the conversation saying, "You're all wrong about Cole. He's not a criminal. He wasn't involved in what happened to Kowalski and is certainly not involved in what happened to Walsh. How dare you turn on him."

Beaumont was about to storm out, until Casey grabbed her by the arm in order to turn her around to face her as she quickly said, "Allison, we didn't mean for you to find out about your partner this way, but I'm afraid that he is involved. We don't know how much, but…"

"It's impossible!" Beaumont replied angrily. "He's the sweetest and best man I know."

"You mean aside from Jason?" Casey quickly retorted. "For crying out loud, Allison, you're with Walsh and though you say that you're not sure if you love him or not, you have made it perfectly clear to the rest of us, including Jason, that the one you do love is Cole. But he's not the man you think he is. You just don't want to hear it. You want to know why Walsh has been so distant lately? It's because of all of this. He let Cole go because he was trying to protect you. He cares for…"

Beaumont stopped her before she could go any further and then responded, "When Walsh wakes up, if he wakes up, you can tell him he can go to hell. If he cared about me at all, he should have told me what was going on. Cole isn't a dirty cop and even if he was someone else once, he isn't that man now."

She turned and was about to walk away again until Sergeant Brown suddenly called out to her, "Detective Beaumont, you are not to tell your partner anything about our conversation or that we know of his involvement in the attempt on Walsh's life. If you do, you will lose your badge. Do I make myself clear?"

She only nodded and then finally walked out of the room. Casey, Alvarez, and Sergeant only stared at her as she stormed away. Casey had to fight back the urge she suddenly felt to smack Beaumont upside the head in order to make her see reason. She couldn't believe the woman's sudden hostility against Walsh, nor that after all he has done for her over the years that she could turn her back on him just like that.

"Wow that was harsh," Eddie spoke up saying.

"But she was right… about one thing," Walsh suddenly said softly as everyone quickly turned around and looked down at him in surprise, as they found him looking up at them groggily.

Casey cried out, "You're awake! Thank God you're awake and you heard all that… oh Walsh, I'm so sorry."

Jason closed his eyes as pain flared up again, but then reopened his eyes and looked at his partner as he answered, "Don't be. I should have told her."

"No, you were right not to," their boss replied firmly. "We will figure all this out, but I want you to relax and work on getting yourself well. You have a long recovery ahead of you still."

"How are you feeling; really?" Eddie asked.

Walsh attempted to remove the tube from under his nose as he closed his eyes again and weakly responded, "Everything hur… hurts."

He slowly lost consciousness again as Casey said sadly, "Which is why these tubes are in place to help you. Now, let them do their job and we'll do ours. We'll end this."


	21. Chapter 21

Unkindest Cut of All

Chapter Twenty-One

Once Walsh fell back unconscious, Casey, Eddie, and their sergeant sat in chairs at the end of the bed as Casey went over everything Walsh had explained to her about Cole and his connections to Frank Lutz, then told him that after Walsh had saved hers and Eddie's life, he had tried to tell them that their shooter was someone's brother. Casey had no doubt that he meant Cole.

As she finished, Sergeant said in frustration, "You realize that Walsh's comparisons between Cole and Lutz is a stretch at best, right?"

Casey nodded and replied, "Yes, I know. That's what I told Walsh when he tried explaining the same to me, but Sir, we need to figure out, who our shooter is and how he is connected to Frank Lutz, then maybe we can gather enough to bring Cole down too. The three of them have to be connected. Lutz killed Kowalski to keep him from talking about Cole's past and then tried to kill Walsh for the same reason. When he failed, word somehow got around to Cole's brother, who has come to town to finish the job, but more out of revenge than anything else. What I don't understand is, how does the brother not have a record? There has to be something on him. Lutz had a record and so does Cole."

"Last night, Beaumont handed us Lisa Jensen's rap sheet after she had picked it up from one of the techs," Alvarez responded.

"Please tell me that you are not seriously implying that Detective Beaumont has joined with Cole as well?" the sergeant asked.

Eddie shook his head and answered, "No, no, no, not at all. Cole walked in right behind her. What if he was the one, who got it from the techs and she took it from him, after he had already gotten rid of the second rap sheet; his brother's."

Casey replied, "You're brilliant, Alvarez."

"That's not the first time I've heard that in the last twenty-four hours," he responded as he smiled at her.

"I'm going to call up Beaumont and ask her outright," Sergeant Brown said as he picked up his cell phone and stepped out of the room. "I know how much she cares about her partner, but no matter what we think of her right now, I also know that she won't give up being a cop by disobeying my orders."

Meanwhile…

Cole could tell that his partner's heart wasn't into their part of the assignment and so he suggested to her after their talk with Kyle at his apartment, that she head to the hospital to be with Walsh, while he and the others take down the gang members. Delahoy tried to object, but Beaumont ignored him as she smiled at Cole, then thanked him and left. Cole, Delahoy, and Banks had gotten back from taking down Kyle's gang, with help from SWAT, and locking them up in holding a few minutes ago and had taken a seat at their desks to relax before starting in on their interrogations.

It wasn't long after that, when Beaumont came walking back into the precinct and angrily tossed her badge down on top of her desk, then took a seat across from Cole as she began to stare at him. Both Delahoy and Banks looked up to see what was going on and Cole stopped going through the paperwork he was about to begin to fill out on their arrests to look at her in concern.

"Is everything all right?" Cole asked softly and nervously.

"No, everything's not all right!" she answered harshly.

Delahoy leaned forward and asked, "Did something happen at the hospital? Is Walsh all right?"

She looked over at him and replied, "For now. He's still in bad shape, but no doubt he'll recover just fine."

"That's a good thing, isn't it?" Banks asked, as he, Cole, and his partner stared at her in confusion. "That he's going to be all right?"

"Don't you two have something you should be doing instead of irritating me?" she responded. "It's great, all right?"

Both of them put up their hands in defense, stood, and walked away as Cole remained at his desk and continued to stare at her in concern, then finally spoke up asking, "What's wrong? Is there anything I can do to help you?"

Beaumont turned and looked at him sadly as her attitude softened, then answered, "No, I'm sorry. I'm just frustrated and worried, that's all."

"It's all right," Cole replied gently. "You have every right to be. I felt the same way when you were shot. The fear of losing someone you care about is overwhelming."

"I know," she responded coldly as she looked at him with sadness in her eyes. "Listen, Cole, there's something I want to ask you, but…"

Before she could continue, her phone suddenly began to ring and she saw that it was the sergeant, then quickly stood and walked angrily away in order to answer it as she said, "I haven't said anything to him, Sir. Are you that distrustful of me?"

On the other end, Sergeant Brown answered, "_No, I do trust you'll do the right thing, Detective, but I need to ask you if you were the one, who picked up the rap sheet on Lisa Jensen from the techs this morning?_"

"I was the one, who handed it to you," she replied. "I did…"

"_But were you the one, who actually picked up the file from the techs, or did you get it from someone else?_" he asked again as he cut her off.

Beaumont looked at Cole, still at his desk, from the room she had walked into and fearfully responded, "No, it was Cole. I was on my way down to pick up the files and I ran into him as he handed her rap sheet. Sir, what are you implying? That Cole would…"

Sergeant Brown interrupted her again as he said swiftly, "_Listen to me, Allison. I need you to go down and ask the techs to reprint you the results of the database search. If there was a rap sheet on our shooter, then they should come right up, rather than having to have them begin the search all over again. Do not let Cole know what you're up to. I will be back at the precinct soon. You can do this. I have complete faith in you._"

"Understood, Sir," she answered as she walked off to do as he ordered.

After his partner walked away, Cole stared after her until he was suddenly interrupted by his phone ringing and when he answered it, his brother spoke up saying, "_I just wanted to call and give you a heads up, Little Brother. Our problems are about to be finished off once and for all._"


	22. Chapter 22

Unkindest Cut of All

Chapter Twenty-Two

As soon as the sergeant got off his phone with Detective Beaumont, he turned to Casey and Eddie and said, "I'm going to head back to the precinct. Alvarez, you're with me. We have work to do. Shraeger, I know that you want to stay here with your partner, so I'm going to let you."

Casey responded, "Thank you, Sir."

"He's a stubborn SOB, so don't let him try to get up next time he wakes up," Brown continued as he walked toward the door. "I need him on our team."

"I'll do the best I can," Casey answered as their boss turned and left the room.

Alvarez quickly spoke up saying, "I'll be back to visit him as soon as this case is all wrapped up. Don't worry, everything's going to work out just fine. Jason woke up once, which means he hasn't given up yet and he won't."

Casey smiled and then he turned to follow after the sergeant until Casey quickly called out, "Good luck, Eddie!"

Meanwhile…

Beaumont slowly walked down to the office where the techs of the department worked in order to follow out Sergeant Brown's orders. If there was the slightest chance that the accusation against Cole was true, then she wanted to know; she needed to know. She couldn't believe that her partner was dirty, even if he did have a bad past, but Cole was now a man of God, who went to church more than twice a week, he had a beautiful and loving fiancée, and he was the kindest man she knew.

After Casey had lashed out at her while at the hospital, Beaumont realized that at least to some degree, the rookie of their team was right. A part of her was in love with Cole, though she would never act on it as he was engaged and she was with Walsh; or at least she was until recently. She doubted she could be with him anymore after he had kept this big of a secret from her for all this time. She was still mad at him and would be for quite awhile.

"Hey, Allison," one of the woman in the lab suddenly said, causing Beaumont to snap out of her thoughts. "Is everything all right?"

"Yes, fine," the detective replied. "I'm sorry, there's just a lot on my mind right now."

The woman nodded as she responded, "Oh, I know. I can only imagine how you must be feeling, you know, with Detective Walsh in the hospital right now. I hope he's going to be…"

Beaumont cut her off as she had become irritated and said, "I know. Listen, I need you to reprint the database search on our two suspects from Walsh's diner that we had had you run last night. Somehow, I misplaced the ones that Detective Cole gave me and we really need it again."

"No problem," the woman answered as she ran her fingers across the computer keys and quickly reprinted the reports. "Your male suspect seems like quite the psycho. Is he your guy?"

"We're not… not sure yet," Beaumont stuttered as she looked down at the new rap sheet for a Tommy Granger in surprise, as she discovered that Sergeant Brown had been right; that Cole must have hidden it the night before. "Thank you."

As Beaumont slowly walked away, she began to read through the information printed in the report, but stopped in the hallway before heading into the squad room where she believed her partner was waiting for her to come back. The tech had been right. This guy did appear to be a psycho as she read that he had been in and out of prison for robbery, assault, and even murder of a shopkeeper in a store he had robbed along with the same man, who had shot her the day he attempted to kill Walsh; Frank Lutz.

Somehow, he had been released from prison early thanks to him giving up information on another criminal in exchange for a reduced sentence and when she read his release date, which was two days ago, she realized that it was the same day Cole had said that his visitor had come into town. However, it was the last page of the rap sheet that hit her the hardest, as she looked closely at a picture that was of Lutz, Tommy, and who the report claimed was Tommy's brother as they were working to steal an armored car. It wasn't perfectly clear, but Beaumont could see that the brother looked an awful lot like Cole.

The knots in her stomach tightened as she suddenly took off running toward the squad room in anger and looked around for her partner, who was no longer there, then called out, "Where's Cole?"

Both Banks and Delahoy stood up from their desk as soon as she came in, obviously in a panic, and the detective that believed he would not live to the age of forty-three quickly asked, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Take it easy, Beaumont! What's going on?"

"Where did Cole go?" she asked again, but with more anger in her voice.

"We don't know," Delahoy replied. "Shortly after you left the room to answer your phone, he received a call himself and took off as soon as he hung up. He didn't say where he was going."

Beaumont stomped her foot on the floor and angrily began to shout, "Son of a…"

As he and Alvarez suddenly walked into the squad room, Sergeant Brown interrupted, "What's going on, Detectives?"

"We're not really sure, Sir," Delahoy answered as she looked over at his partner, then back at their boss. "Beaumont came in here just before you did, demanding to know where Detective Cole was. Again, we have no idea."

"Alvarez, I need you to put a bolo out on Cole, now!" Sergeant Brown ordered as Eddie then quickly took a seat at his desk and began to do as their boss said.

Both Delahoy and Banks looked between the sergeant and Alvarez in confusion as Banks asked, "Is there something going on here that we should know about, Sir?"

Beaumont said angrily, "Tell us what's really going on, Serge. How deep into this is Cole, really?"

"I'm afraid that we couldn't tell you any of this before, as we were hoping that we could prove that this was all a misunderstanding, as well as for Walsh's welfare, but it appears the cat is out of the bag," Sergeant Brown replied as she looked between the four detectives inside the room. "Detective Cole is not, who he says he is. In fact, his name is not Henry Cole at all. His name is Navan Granger, a man we suspect is the brother of our shooter."

"Our shooter's name is Tommy Granger," Beaumont responded very quietly as she was fighting to keep in her anger and the shock that her partner had betrayed her. "I have his rap sheet right here. There's a picture of him, Frank Lutz, and Co… Navan stealing an armored car."

Delahoy looked between her and their boss as he asked, "Cole; are you sure you have the right man, Sir? I mean, the guy can't even say the word, semen, without feeling the need to say a quick prayer to ask God for forgiveness."

Banks nodded as he added, "My partner's right. Cole can't possibly be involved in what happened to Walsh."

"We're not sure how deeply he's involved with the kidnapping and attempt on our lives, but we do know that he had a small hand in Kowalski's death," Eddie spoke up after he got off the phone, then began to put up the information Walsh had gathered on both Cole and Frank Lutz up on the board. "Walsh began to suspect him the day Frank Lutz tried to kill him at his diner. He shared some of the information he had gathered with his partner, but didn't want to risk getting her more involved to protect her. This is that information that proves that Cole and Navan Granger are indeed the same man and that they are connected."

Eddie continued to walk through the information that Casey had explained to the rest of the team, including that Walsh had confronted Cole about his involvement in Kowalski's death and that he didn't deny it. He then went on to explain that Walsh never said any of this to anyone, including their sergeant, because he was only trying to protect, who he believed was a good man, who had made stupid mistakes when he was younger and was now trying to turn his life around.

Sergeant Brown sadly said, "We do not believe Cole is nearly as bad as Tommy or Lutz and that he was probably just stuck in the middle as he was trying to protect his brother and childhood friend. However, he's gone too far. We need to find him and when we do, we will get him to tell us how to find his brother. I promise you, Allison, we will do whatever we can for him, but once we find out exactly how he's involved in all this, he will have to suffer the consequences. One thing is for sure; Detective Cole no longer exists, as he is no longer an officer of the law."

Detectives Beaumont, Delahoy, and Banks all sat down at their desks once again in silence, as they worked to absorb all of the information that had just been explained to them. Beaumont was on the verge of tears, as she realized that this would destroy his relationship with his fiancée, just as it has already destroyed her own, and that she had wronged Jason. Sergeant Brown allowed them time to take it all in, as there was nothing for them to do, but wait for someone to respond to the bolo that Alvarez had put out on Cole. A minute later, Eddie picked up his phone as it began to ring.

"Eddie Alvarez," he answered quickly and then listened to the caller on the other end of the line, as the others could see that the call was urgent from the look that suddenly appeared on his face. "We're on our way!"

"What's wrong, Alvarez?" Sergeant Brown asked as soon as he hung up the phone.

Eddie quickly explained, "There's a shootout going on right now at the hospital. Casey says that there are multiple shooters working their way up to Walsh's room right now, as they're taking the hospital staff hostage."

Brown quickly shouted for everyone to gear up, then grabbed his phone and began to call in for backup to have them meet them at the hospital by the time they arrive. All of them knew without a doubt that Tommy Granger was behind the attack, as he was hoping to finish off Walsh once and for all. Each of them hoped that it wasn't so, but they believed that Cole was probably somehow involved in this as well, as it would explain his sudden disappearance.

Back at the hospital…

Casey sat in the chair beside her partner's bed, while he remained asleep, but as soon as the shooting began two floors down from them, Casey bolted and headed toward the door in order to find out what the commotion was from the security detail outside the door, both of them raised their weapons to be ready for the shooters in case they were coming for the man they were in charge of protecting, while one of them spoke over their radios to the security guards that worked for the hospital to get details of the attack.

Casey could hear the screams and shots being fired from below as she quickly asked, "What's going on?"

"They're busy with rounding up the doctors and nurses, as well as any of the security officers down on the ground floor," one of the guards replied. "It sounds like a few people are hurt, but the men don't appear to want a bloodbath, as they're concentrating on firing up in the air or past the people down there."

"Which means, they are definitely here for one person and I'll bet it's Walsh," Casey responded angrily as she quickly pulled up her own gun and walked back toward her partner's bed, then pulled out her cell phone to call for help.

As soon as she hung up, she looked down fearfully at Walsh and found that he was awake as he softly said, "I know that you're not… going to want to, but… you need to go and help them."

Casey shook her head as she argued, "I can't leave you alone. Are you crazy? They're here for you."

"And I've got two… armed guards outside my door," Walsh retorted as he slowly struggled to sit up and then moved to pull the tube out from under his nose once again. "This is part… part of the job, Casey. You're a cop. Civilians come first; rule number one. I'll be all right."

"I thought rule number one was cops first?" Casey asked sarcastically, knowing what his answer was going to be. "That is what you told Alvarez."

A smile appeared on his face and then he answered solemnly, "Not in this time. Be careful out there; pro… promise."

Casey nodded and replied, "I promise."

Outside the hospital…

Sergeant Brown and Detectives Beaumont, Delahoy, and Banks all drove up and got out as SWAT and what appeared to be most of the city's policeman began to surround the building. As the team from the 2nd Precinct worked to put on their vests, Sergeant Banks walked over to the members of SWAT that were in charge in order to get updated on the situation.

"As of right now, we have at least seven men, all heavily armed, that have taken several of the hospital staff, as well as a few of the security officers hostage on the ground floor," the leader said. "They have yet to make any demands, but according to one of the men assigned to keep guard outside your man's room, they believe they're here for him, although they haven't made a move to that floor yet; just the first two."

"They're probably just working on making sure that every threat has been dealt with first in order to make sure there are no surprises," another member of SWAT added.

The sergeant responded, "Whatever it is they're doing, we need to stop them before my detectives end up dead. What's your plan?"

The SWAT leader answered, "We're planning on moving in as soon as my men are ready. We've already got a few men inside to survey what's going on and they claim that taking the seven men down, shouldn't be too much of a problem."

"Just be sure that Detective Shraeger doesn't get caught in the crossfire, as she'll no doubt be working to help out the hostages herself as soon as she gets the chance," Sergeant Brown replied.

"Understood, Sergeant," the leader responded. "We'll let you know when we're ready to go."

Back inside…

As she walked out of Walsh's room, Casey had talked to the guards outside in order to make sure they knew not to leave their post for any reason. After they reassured her that they understood, Casey walked slowly and cautiously down the hospital's corridors in search for the hostages and their captors. The armed men had yet to make it up to their floor, so Casey worked to get all of the nurses and doctors that had yet to be found into a place where they could hide and stay out of sight until the threat was over. Then, she made her way down to the floor below and waited for the right moment to make a move that wouldn't end up with her getting shot. About twenty minutes later, SWAT came charging in and worked to take the men out.

As soon as the commotion started up again downstairs, one of the doctors stumbled out from one of the stairwells just down the hall from where the guards stood outside of Walsh's room. As he did, he called out to them for help and once they saw that he appeared to be hurt, one of the guards rushed forward to help him, while the other remained at his post. However, as soon as the guard reached him, the doctor suddenly pulled out a gun out from under his jacket and shot the guard in his chest, then quickly turned his gun on the other guard as he attempted to take the shooter down first. Unfortunately, the guard's shot missed and he was killed before he could try again.

The shooter, disguised as a doctor, stood up straight and began to walk toward Walsh's room until he a voice called out from behind him saying, "You can't do this, Tommy. Do you honestly believe this is helping us; helping me?"

Tommy turned to face Cole and saw that he had his gun raised and aimed directly at him, as he answered, "It's obvious that you don't see it this way, Navan, but all I'm trying to do is give you a reason to stop fooling yourself and to come back to being the man you used to be. You're not this cowardly, God fearing man you somehow forced yourself into believing you are."

"I am Henry Cole," he replied shakily. "I don't want to be that man you think I am, but both you and Frank drew me back into your world and made me do things I wish I could take back. You're ruining my life. Doesn't that matter to you at all? I was the one, who killed Frank, Tommy, not Walsh. Frank was going to shoot him and his partner, so I killed him to protect them and to stop him from blackmailing me into helping him to commit more and more crimes. I couldn't take it anymore."

"You shouldn't have done that, Navan," Tommy responded angrily. "He was like a brother to us. He was family! If you let me do what I came here to do, I will let it go and leave town, just like you want. You can go back to being Detective Henry Cole."

Cole shook his head sadly as he answered, "I can't. I've already gone too far. And I can't let you kill Detective Walsh; I won't."

Tommy raised his own gun and just as he was about to fire he said, "That's too bad, Navan, because I know that you don't have the guts to kill me."

"He may not, but I do," another voice replied shakily, but firmly as a shot sounded and Tommy suddenly collapsed to his knees, as red began to blossom out from a new wound in his chest.

"Jason!" Cole exclaimed in surprise as he turned to see the detective leaning up against the doorway of his room for support, with a smoking gun raised in his hand. "You're awake?"

Walsh nodded slowly, then Cole looked down sadly at his brother as he fell to the floor onto his back and died with hatred in his eyes. When, he turned back to look at Walsh, the man, who just saved his life suddenly began to collapse as well, until Cole stepped forward and caught him. It was then that Casey, Eddie, Sergeant Brown, and Allison all arrived in the corridor and rushed forward to help.

Both Casey and Eddie pulled her partner from Cole's arms and as gently as they could, worked to help him back into his bed, while both their sergeant and Beaumont stood in the hallway, staring at Cole with disappointment etched on their faces. He only looked down in shame, as he knew that he was finished.

Beaumont was the first to speak as she asked angrily, "How could you do this? You were my partner. I trusted you with my life! Why did you not tell us you were in trouble the day Lutz arrived? We could have protected you and instead, I ended up with a bullet in my gut."

Cole responded, "I'm so sorry, Allison. I wanted so badly to tell you, but… I was so afraid that you wouldn't understand that I wasn't the man I once was and I didn't want to lose my badge."

"I'm afraid that that's exactly what's going to happen and unfortunately, you are worse than the man you were once," Sergeant Brown answered as he pushed him into the hospital room and worked to cuff his hands behind his back.

"Serge is right," Casey quickly replied as her partner struggled to breathe through the pain as it began to flare up again. "Earlier, Walsh told me he vaguely remembered waking up in the shipping container your friends had stuck him in and he saw you standing above him. You knew where he was all day and you were going to let him die."

Cole tried to explain, "Yes, but I realized my mistake, which is why I rushed here to the hospital when my brother called me to tell me that he was going to take care of Walsh once and for all. I was trying to save him."

Sergeant Brown spoke up again saying, "Which will be taken into account when the charges are brought against you, but it won't help you much. Jason ended up saving you instead; not that I blame you for not being able to kill your brother."

"I don't understand, Co… Navan," Casey firmly responded. "How could you do all this, after everything Walsh has done for you? He kept quiet about your past because he believed in you and because he wanted to protect your partner from finding out that you are not the man she grew to love."

"Do you know… what Shakes… Shakespeare said… in his work, Julius Caesar?" Walsh struggled to ask no one in particular as his eyes remained tightly closed because of the pain. "He wrote, 'Judge, O you gods, how dearly… Caesar loved… him! This was… the most unkindest… cut of all; For when… the noble Caesar saw him stab, Ingratitude, more strong… than traitors'…"

They all listened to Walsh in surprise and then when he couldn't finish because it was too hard for him to speak, Casey continued, "Arms, Quite vanquish'd him; then burst his mighty heart.' I think what Walsh is trying to say is that you were a trusted friend and that to be betrayed by you, was even more hurtful than by those, who beat, stabbed, and shot him. He trusted you, considered you a friend, and even after he tried to help after he found out about you, you stood over him as he was freezing to death and did nothing to help him in return. If Walsh hadn't escaped from the container, he would be dead by now. If you ask me, you don't deserve any leniency. You won't get any sympathy from me."

Cole looked down at Walsh and then when both Sergeant Brown and Beaumont began to pull him out of the room as the doctor finally made his way in the room to help Walsh, he softly answered, "I'm sorry."

"Thanks… for… for the gun." Walsh struggled to say to his partner as the doctor and nurse worked to bandage up his now bleeding arms, thanks to him ripping them out when he got up.

"I was afraid that something bad was going to happen," Casey replied. "I just didn't expect this. I'm glad I gave it to you to protect yourself, but you shouldn't have gotten out of bed. It was stupid."

Jason tried to keep his eyes on her as he responded, "It's our job… to protect… the people we can… no matter who… who they are."

Casey nodded sadly as she and Alvarez watched him fight off another flare of pain coming from the wound in his abdomen, as the nurse was now working to re-bandage it to stop the blood flow, as he had ripped open the stitches, until they could work on him to repair the damage he had caused.

In order to distract him, Eddie spoke up as he asked, "So, Shakespeare, huh? I never figured you to be that type of guy."

"What can I say?" Walsh asked groggily as he was beginning to lose consciousness. "I'm a fan… of the… classics, as Casey is… too, apparently. Thank you, both; for… for everything."

"You're welcome," they both answered as Walsh's eyes closed once he finally passed out.

Because Walsh had ripped out the tubes from his arms and had gotten out of bed to save Cole's life, he had to go in for surgery once again in order for the doctors to repair the damages. This time, Casey's partner remained unconscious for almost a week, due to the strain his body had been through. Casey, Eddie, and Sergeant Brown visited Walsh the most as they sat with him after they were off duty. Eddie had brought him numerous gifts as a way of thanking him for all he did to save his life. Delahoy and Banks stopped by only once, as they both had a deep fear of hospitals.

Beaumont finally came in one night, as she was unsure of what to say or how to act around him. A part of her was still angry with Walsh for keeping all of this a secret and for keeping himself so distant from her, but then after everything had been explained, she slowly began to understand that he only wanted to protect her because he really did love her. However, she realized that things couldn't go back to the way they were before, so when Walsh finally came to while she sat there, she knew that she needed to end things between them.

He was the first to talk as he groggily whispered, "It's good to see you. To be honest… I didn't expect to, at least not here."

She nodded and then replied, "I wasn't sure if I should, but I don't want to leave things between us like this. You know, awkward."

"How are you doing?" Jason asked as he looked over at her with compassion, as well as sympathy in his eyes.

"Not great," Beaumont responded truthfully. "Cole, I mean Navan, is in prison and I'm still struggling to deal with the fact that he's responsible for all of this. After we arrested him, he confessed to everything. He told us that when Kowalski had discovered his secret, he panicked and called in Lutz to take care of the problem and then when you found out, he called Lutz again. Col… Navan started everything. I trusted him and I lov…"

She suddenly cut herself off as she realized what she was about to say, when Walsh continued for her, "You loved him."

She looked at him sadly as she said, "Jason… I…"

"It's all right," he answered softly. "I already knew. You talked about him all the time when we were together. You and I were good together, Allison, but I knew… that you would never feel the same way for me, the way that I feel for you and that is my… fault. I should have told you a long time ago that I loved you. You will find someone… that will love you, the way you want them to. And about Cole, I'm sorry."

"Thank you, Jason," she replied as a smile appeared on her face. "I hoped that one day I may be able to forgive him, but after what he did to you? I don't want to. Maybe this way, it will be much easier to get over him. Oh, and his fiancé left him, as I'm sure you expected she would. I feel terrible for her, but she's going to move back home, to wherever she's from. She'll be all right too."

Allison kept talking with Walsh for awhile longer, until he became tired and fell back asleep. After six weeks of being stuck in the hospital, Walsh was finally released and when Casey brought him into the bar where most of NYPD hung out, everyone shouted out surprise as they had thrown together a welcome back party for him.

Eddie walked over and handed him a beer and after he thanked him, Walsh turned to Casey and said quietly, "You do realize I hate surprise parties, right?"

She laughed and after taking a sip of her own beer she responded, "Yes, but frankly, I don't really care. You almost died and it was partially because you were a fool to risk your life trying to save everyone else's. This is what you get."

"All right," Walsh answered as he laughed along with her and Alvarez. "You know, I wasn't really sure if I was imagining this or not, but I vaguely remember you whispering something in my ear as the paramedics were working to revive me. Remind me again what you said?"

"I begged you not to die," Casey replied solemnly. "I told you that I needed you and I meant it. You are the best partner I've had because you understand me. You don't know how rare that is for me to find."

Walsh smiled as he responded, "I think I have a pretty good idea."

The End


End file.
